Tuesday, June 19, 2007

idiots.

Toddler served booze at Applebee's

There's an "America's Favorite Neighbor" joke in here somewhere but I can't think of one at the moment.

A 2 year-old was accidentally served a margarita in his drink instead of the apple juice his mother ordered. The kid kept pushing the drink away after taking a sip and his mom didn't understand why. She opened the sippy cup and found the alcohol. She wasn't going to make a fuss, but later at home the child got sick and vomited. The chain says the incident was an isolated mistake. The child is fine now.

The reason this happened? Not only was the apple juice and the Triple sec/tequila mixture kept on the same shelf, they were kept in identical plastic bottles. Yikes.

Sassone, Bob. "Toddler served booze at Applebee's." 18 Jun 2007. Slashfood.com. 19 Jun 2007. http://www.slashfood.com/2007/06/18/toddler-served-booze-at-applebees/

Sunday, June 17, 2007

I stole this from a fellow Solder's Girl

You don't know, but I'm the girl who cries every morning, and hopes every night for his safe return. I'm the girl who drags herself out of bed every morning so that he will be proud of her when he comes home. I'm the girl who lies in bed longing for him to be lying nect to me. I'm the girl who sits quietly because all I can think about is that next moment when he will safely be in my arms again. You don't know, but I'm the girl with a million things to say, but not one will come out without the thought of him. I'm the girl who checks her cell phone every five seconds just to make sure I haven't missed his call. I'm the girl who stops and stares and wishes for him to return soon each and every time another man in uniform walks by.
What you don't know is that I know love on an entirely different level from most. I know the love that spans time and space; that love that most people are constantly searching for. I'm one of the girls who waits months for a single kiss; a kiss that will make the months apart worth every second. A kiss where everything in the world stops and for what seems like eternirty, you can see into that person's soul and know that without them, life is not worth living. I know that love has no age limit. You tell me I don't even understand what love is, I tell you, I know more love in one homecoming than most know in a life time. You don't know that every time he leaves part of me goes with him and part of him stays with me. You tell me that people change and I tell you, true love will always remain constant and steady. That I'm going through; you have no idea. What you don't realize is thatt I understand the true meaning of not only love, but of longing and anticipation.
You don't see, but I'm one of the few who gets goose bumps as my heart fills with pride every time the National Anthem is played. I'm one of the girls who will stand tall and stay strong on the outside, but be dying on the inside. I am one of the girls who will make friends with complete strangers for only they can even begin to understand what I am going through. You don't understand that I picture his face everywhere I go and that he is with me in everything I do. You think I don't cry anymore, that I have gotten over it, but what you don't know is that I just hide it better. You don't know the feeling of the first time you hear the word "deployment" or the feeling of his hand as it slides out of yours for what could be the last time. You don't know how much that last hug or kiss means and how important that goodbye truly is. I'm the girl you see standing alone in the corner of the airport watching quietly out the window with tears rolling down her cheeks. I'm the girl you see walking by with a disheartened face staring silently at the ground. What you don't know, is that I know true love and that no matter what obstacles we have to face, our love is forever.
You tell me that you support our troops; I tell you I'm in love with one. I'm one of the silent, but outgoing; weak, but strong; scared, but grateful. What you don't see is that without me, he is nothing and without him, I am nothing. I'm one of those girls; the girl who stands tall behind her Soldier, stands proud behind her Hero, stands strong behind her man, watching silently as he serves and defends our country.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

"If glory can be killed, we are lost."

"Sometimes a kind of glory lights up the mind of a man. It happens to nearly everyone. You can feel it growing or preparing like a fuse burning toward dynamite. It is a feeling in the stomach, a delight of the nerves, of the forearms. The skin tastes the air, and every deep-drawn breath is sweet. Its beginning has the pleasure of a great stretching yawn; it flashes in the brain and the whole world glows outside your eyes. A man may have lived all of his life in the gray, and the land and trees of him dark and somber. The events, even the important ones, may have trooped by faceless and pale. And then--the glory--so that a cricket song sweetens his ears, the smell of the earth rises chanting to his nose, and dappling light under a tree blesses his eyes. Then a man pours outward, a torrent of him, and yet he is not diminished. And I guess a man's importance in the world can be measured by the quality and number of his glories. It is a lonely thing but it relates us to the world. It is the mother of all creativeness, and it sets each man separate from all other men.
"I don't know how it will be in the years to come. There are monstrous changes taking place in the world, forces shaping a future whose face we do not know. Some of these forces seem evil to us, perhaps not in themselves but because their tendency is to eliminate other things we hold good. It is true that two men can lift a bigger stone than one man. A group can build automobiles quicker and better than one man, and bread from a huge factory is cheaper and more uniform. When our food and clothing and housing all are born in the complication of mass production, mass method is bound to get into our thinking and to eliminate all other thinking. In our time mass or collective production has entered our economies, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea God. This in my time is the danger. There is great tension in the world, tension toward a breaking point, and men are unhappy and confused.
"At such a time it seems natural and good to me to ask myself these questions. What do I believe in? What must I fight for and what must I fight against?
"Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man.
"And now the forces marshaled around the concept of the group have declared a war of extermination on that preciousness, the mind of man. By disparagement, by starvation, by repression, forced direction, and the stunning hammerblows of conditioning, the free, roving mind is being pursued, roped, blunted, drugged. It is a sad suicidal course our species seems to have taken.
"And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am about. I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind, for that is one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system. Surely I can understand this, and I hate it and I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts. If the glory can be killed, we are lost."

Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. New York: Penguin Books, 1952.

Friday, June 08, 2007

This is for all those people who don't believe me when I say ICY HOT is dangerous.

A budding teenage athlete has died after 'overdosing' on a common topical muscle cream.

The medical examiner announced on Thursday that the 17-year-old track star, Arielle Newman of Castleton Corners, N.Y., died from a toxic dose of sports cream, the Staten Island Advance reported.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's officer told the Advance that the Notre Dame Academy track star's blood contained lethal amounts of methyl salicylate, the active ingredient found in muscle rubs such as BenGay and Icy Hot.

Borakove said the petite girl used the topical medication excessively, allowing the poisons to accumulate in her body over an undetermined amount of time.

Newman was found dead in her home on April 3. The initial autopsy was inconclusive, which led to speculation her death was linked to a party she had attended the night before.

"I am glad this shows (Arielle) didn't die of her own doing. But this is a tragedy that could have been avoided," her mother, Alice Newman told the Advance.

Methyl salicylate, also known as oil of wintergreen, can be toxic if overused, but deaths from topical application are extremely rare.

Borakove said this was the first case she had come across in 20 years at the medical examiner's office.

Poisoning from swallowing the substance is more likely, but death from ingesting it is still very uncommon. Just one teaspoon of pure methyl salicylate can be fatal if swallowed by a child.

"Even though this is an extremely rare case, it points to the danger of over-the-counter products, whatever the case may be," said Dr. Manny Alvarez, the managing health editor of FOXNews.com. "Everyone needs to pay attention to over the counter products, even the products that seem safe can be deadly if used improperly."

"Teen Dies from Muscle Cream Overdose." 08 June 2007. FoxNews.com 08 June 2007. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,279482,00.html

Dr. Burke will not be coming back.

Well, it is official. They finally told us what all the Grey's fans knew already:


The speculation is over: After a controversial season, Isaiah Washington will not be returning to Grey's Anatomy, his rep and ABC Television Studio have confirmed.

Howard Bragman, Washington's publicist, says Washington's option was not renewed, and released this statement from the actor: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more."

Bragman did not elaborate on the statement, a reference to the 1976 film Network.

The cast was notified Thursday night of the final decision, which, says a source close to the situation, was a long time coming. In the end, the source says, Washington's behavior made him a liability.

Rumors ran rampant following the season finale – during which Washington's character, Dr. Preston Burke, broke up with his fiancĂ©e, Christina Yang (Sandra Oh), and moved out of their apartment – that Washington would not be returning.

The actor first came under fire last fall after getting into an altercation with Patrick Dempsey, during which he allegedly referred to castmate T.R. Knight with a homophobic slur.

Washington later apologized, checked into rehab, met with gay leaders and recently released a PSA decrying the use of hate speech.



"Isaiah Washington Let Go from Grey's Anatomy." Green, Mary. 07 June 2007. People.com. 08 June 2007. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20041841,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

Friday, June 01, 2007

Attention Military Wifes!!!!!!!

A friend of mine got hit by this scam and it devastated her! I don't understand why people are so cruel. An injured soldier is a serious, devastating event. How could you turn it into a scam?



New Scam Targeting Military Spouses

National Headquarters
2025 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
www.redcross.org


Contact: Devorah Goldburg
Phone: (202) 303-4461
goldburgd@usa.redcross.org

WASHINGTON, Tuesday, May 29, 2007 — The American Red Cross has learned about a new scam targeting military families. This scam takes the form of false information to military families as described below:

The caller (young-sounding, American accent) calls a military spouse and identifies herself as a representative from the Red Cross . The caller states that the spouse's husband (not identified by name) was hurt while on duty in Iraq and was med-evacuated to a hospital in Germany. The caller stated they couldn't start treatment until paperwork was accomplished, and that in order to start the paperwork they needed the spouse to verify her husband's social security number and date of birth. In this case, the spouse was quick to catch on and she did not provide any information to the caller.

The American Red Cross representatives typically do not contact military members/dependents directly and almost always go through a commander or first sergeant channels. Military family members are urged not to give out any personal information over the phone if contacted by unknown/unverified individuals, to include confirmation that your spouse is deployed.

It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 5 years in prison, for a person to falsely or fraudulently pretend to be a member of, or an agent for, the American National Red Cross for the purpose of soliciting, collecting, or receiving money or material.

In addition, American Red Cross representatives will contact military members/dependents directly only in response to an emergency message initiated by your family. The Red Cross does not report any type of casualty information to family members. The Department of Defense will contact families directly if their military member has been injured. Should any military family member receive such a call, they are urged to report it to their local Family Readiness Group or Military Personnel Flight.

The American Red Cross ensures that the American people are in touch with their family members serving in the United States military by operating a communications network that is open 24-hours, 7 days-a-week, 365 days-a-year. Through a network of employees and volunteers at Red Cross national that link families during emergencies, access to emergency financial assistance, confidential counseling, community support headquarters, local chapters, on military installations, and deployed with troops, the Red Cross offers a broad range of services. Among these services, the Red Cross provides communications for families left behind, assistance to veterans, and preparedness courses for military personnel and their families

The American Red Cross helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Last year, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through the Red Cross, the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The American Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.