Best Beach Chair Ever

The Rio Beach chair. Go get one now, they are selling them at Costco. Rio has finally done it, they've made the perfect fucking beach chair!! This bad boy has a cup holder (which SEEMS flimsy but has never dropped my drink) to begin with, which rules as I hate putting my can of *ahem* soda in the sand to warm up (really I've poured out the mountain dew and replaced it with white wine...). Get this, it has arm straps on it so you can carry it like a backpack which may seem dorky but it has a huge back pocket for your lunch, magazines/books, ipod/phone and whatever else you don't want to put in another separate bag. The best part of this low chair design is its comfort. The back is high and the seat long. The chair has 3 levels, all distinctly different (not like an airplane seat that I swear to got does not move back more than 3 cm, its like a damn optical illusion). The third level of the chair is like pure heaven, reclines very low. Oh did I mention the necessary neck/head pillow that ties the whole seating experience together? Yea it's great. Only con is that its sort of hard to fold back up, but youll get the hang of it and with it being so comfy and all you might not even need to learn how to fold it up. Just leave the sucker up and refill your uh, mountain dew....

American Pride

The other night my younger brother got very pissed at me for not being proud to be an American (yes, even with Obama as our president, much as I love that guy). I miss that kid when we was 19 and very anti-The Man/The Machine/The Establishment. Even if his rants were mostly faux jadedness (great phrase from Daria) at least he was skeptical, questioning and searching. It was pretty easy to quiet his faux pride when I asked him how I could be proud when The United States is the largest illegal drug market in the world, has the most gun deaths and teen pregnancies of an industrialized nation, and the highest amounts of diseases in areas like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Oh also, our education levels are incredibly dismal and some of the lowest of industrial nations. I'm proud we elected a leader that might help turn some of this around over a looooong period of time. I am NOT proud of where our 200 Year legacy has gotten us. Sometimes I have to say, I'm sad I was born in a country like America.

Shipping Containers Turned Home Sweet Homelike

My friend Brad T used to want to set up a shipping container as a home on an empty lot. Brad had a bunch of crazy dwelling ideas (an an architecture student SHOULD have) but this one was was better than squatting in an abandoned building in Downtown San Diego (which many a meth addict has thought of already Im sure). Turns out he wasn't the only one to believe it could be done. Check out this truly amazing homes and living spaces designed from shipping containers:







Read And See More of These!!

Do Not Donate to Locks of Love

The New England Journal of Medicine reported that an 18-year-old woman in Illinois, who once had a habit of eating her hair, had a 10 pounds hairball removed from the stomach. She complained of a five-month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss. Five days later, she was eating normally and was sent home. Weird. Next weight loss fad??

On This Day In History: Eiffel Tower opens

On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower's designer, and attended by French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, a handful of other dignitaries, and 200 construction workers.

In 1889, to honor of the centenary of the French Revolution, the French government planned an international exposition and announced a design competition for a monument to be built on the Champ-de-Mars in central Paris. Out of more than 100 designs submitted, the Centennial Committee chose Eiffel's plan of an open-lattice wrought-iron tower that would reach almost 1,000 feet above Paris and be the world's tallest man-made structure. Eiffel, a noted bridge builder, was a master of metal construction and designed the framework of the Statue of Liberty that had recently been erected in New York Harbor.

Eiffel's tower was greeted with skepticism from critics who argued that it would be structurally unsound, and indignation from others who thought it would be an eyesore in the heart of Paris. Unperturbed, Eiffel completed his great tower under budget in just two years. Only one worker lost his life during construction, which at the time was a remarkably low casualty number for a project of that magnitude. The light, airy structure was by all accounts a technological wonder and within a few decades came to be regarded as an architectural masterpiece.

The elevators were not completed by March 31, 1889, however, so Gustave Eiffel ascended the tower's stairs with a few hardy companions and raised an enormous French tricolor on the structure's flagpole. Fireworks were then set off from the second platform. Eiffel and his party descended, and the architect addressed the guests and about 200 workers. In early May, the Paris International Exposition opened, and the tower served as the entrance gateway to the giant fair.

The Eiffel Tower remained the world's tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition's 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world's premier tourist attractions.

Free Concert and Video Shoot!!

My friend Kenta and his band Four Minutes Til Midnight is shooting a spot for Rockstar Energy drink tonight at The Flame in Hillcrest!! While the actual beverage sucks, the band does not...gotta be 21+ and sign a waiver and you can be on the "Extra" train in no time! Check em out!! Starts at 5:30 PM sharp!!

Ice Your Balls While You Watch Ball

This CNN Article is practically BEGGING men to get vasectomies. It's actually sort of funny. The simple procedure that somehow is OK while condoms are not is being touted as yet another recession weathering tactic. Which makes sense, children end up costing parents around 1 million dollars in their lifetime. Hmmm, baby diapers filled with poop and teenagers that HATE you ooooooorrrr a million dollars....yea I'll take the cash...Here is a quote from the article:

In troubled times, vasectomies snip and prosper
Throughout March Madness, Kansas' office has a special on vasectomies called, "Vas-Madness" to capitalize on their patient's obsession with the college basketball tournament.

Patients "would love to have a procedure, go home and sit there when you've got all-day programming, watch basketball," Kansas said.
advertisement

After the less-than-hourlong procedure, patients usually spend a day or two recovering, moving gingerly and icing the soreness. Some men time their vasectomies around the time of major sports events such as the Masters Golf Tournament and the NCAA basketball tournament to keep themselves entertained during recovery.

(These sporting events are currently taking place)

The Subservient Chicken

Not only is it incredibly creepy (he has a slaughterhouse tag on his leg and his face is nightmarish) but he won't break anything. If you haven't heard of this chicken check out the link below. You can ask him to do anything and he is supposed to. But he's pretty limited. Don't even THINK about asking him to do anything sexy....or destructive....

The Subservient Chicken

HAHA

Citizen Video Blog

Citizen Video Blog

Citizen Video also has a new sort of membership that mirrors the direction Blockbuster and Netflix are going!

$15 For One Month of Unlimited Rentals
3 Movies at a Time
No Late Fees

Check them out!! As I have come to find out, Blockbuster has a horrible selection. So might as well make it over to Citizen Video where the selection won't make you cringe. This isn't your mom and pop's dusty video store/VHS museum. They have very up to date titles, an online database and you can even buy gift certificates as a neat and cheap gift. They are also very knowledgeable about movies if you aren't sure what you came in to rent. It helps to shop local and keep our small businesses and their owners afloat! Check out there blog for film screenings, events and more!

Citizen Video Website

South Park
2207 Fern St.
San Diego, CA 92184
(619) 281-3456

If Youre Looking For Another Independent Video Rental Store:
Kensington Video
4067 Adams Ave
(between Kensington Dr & Terrace Dr)
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 584-7725

On This Day In History: Ronald Reagan is shot by John Hinckley, Jr.

John Hinckley, Jr. shoots President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. just after the president had addressed the Building and Construction Workers Union of the AFL-CIO. Hinckley was armed with a .22 revolver with exploding bullets and was only ten feet away from Reagan when he began shooting. Fortunately, he was a poor shot and most of the bullets did not explode as they were supposed to. Hinckley's first shot hit press secretary James Brady and other shots wounded a police officer and a Secret Service agent. The final shot hit Reagan's limo and then ricocheted into the President's chest.

Hinckley's path toward the assassination attempt began in 1976 when he saw the movie Taxi Driver. Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle stalks a Presidential candidate in the hopes that he will somehow impress and rescue a young prostitute played by Jodie Foster. Hinckley, who spent seven years in college without earning a degree or making a friend, added Foster to his list of obsessions, which also included Nazis, the Beatles and assassins.

In May 1980, Hinckley wrote to Foster while she attended Yale University, traveled there and talked to her on the phone at least once. Soon after, he began following President Jimmy Carter. In October, he was arrested at airport near a Carter campaign stop for carrying guns. However, the Secret Service was not notified. Hinckley simply went to a pawnshop in Dallas and bought more guns.

For the next several months, Hinckley's plans changed daily. He pondered kidnapping Foster, considered killing Senator Edward Kennedy and began stalking newly elected President Reagan. Finally, he wrote a letter to Foster explaining that his attempt on Reagan's life was for her. He kept abreast of the president's schedule by reading the newspaper.

After Reagan was shot and nearly killed, there was a great deal of confusion at the upper levels of government. In the most notable incident, Secretary of State Alexander Haig told the press that "I am in control here in the White House, pending return of the vice-president," under the mistaken belief that the chain of command placed him in charge.

Hinckley was later not found not guilty by reason of insanity.

No Pants Subway Ride 2009

No Pants Trolley Rides Anyone??

Friday Night Live

My recommendation for tonight, a great SD band duo at what, I think, is a good venue, big band viewing area and good sound at least. Jamuel Saxon has delighted me time and again with their dream pop vocals over 808 beats and QQC has this total post punk new wave thing going on reminding me of Joy Division with a modern dose of punk/emo. DJ Kipper usually puts on a great dancefloor too! One of my next door neighbors is hosting the night and the other is DJing at well, hopefully he'll create a dance floor after the bands and if not, you will have danced enough during the bands. This is gonna be a good one!!



Jamuel Saxon

Qu’est-ce Que C’est

Lord Nelson

Kipper

The Beauty Bar

REAMP

Acne Lights Keep Teens From Loitering

LONDON (AFP) – A British town is using garish pink lighting that shows up acne to deter teenagers from loitering, in the latest example of using simple technology to break up loutish gatherings.

Residents of Mansfield in central England have installed fluorescent pink lights normally used by dermatologists to show up pimples and acne blemishes.

That aside, it is also thought that surly teenage males might find it "uncool" to hang around in a bright pink underpass.

Marianne Down, from the Layton Burroughs Residents' Association, told Mansfield newspaper Chad that the lights were having the desired effect.

"We used to have quite a problem with large groups of young people hanging around in the underpasses drinking, which felt quite intimidating, but the pink lights have really made a difference," she said.

"The groups aren't there as much and it feels safer walking through there now, particularly at night."

Britain has turned to several new ideas to deter teenage louts from hanging around where they are not wanted.

The Mosquito, a device which emits an irritating high-pitched sound that adults cannot hear, has been deployed in several towns across the country, to great effect.

Mansfield residents are so pleased with the lights that they are planning to install a new set elsewhere in the town. Local councillor David Brown said: "I totally agree with it and it seems a good idea.

"It will be interesting to see how effective this is. It's effectively embarrassing them into moving on but they could just see it as a big joke and turn up with balaclavas."

HAHA

If you HAVE to, get Jack in The Box Egg Rolls

I know times are hard and at JITB the price is right. BUT, most of their food is LADEN with trans fats and creepy chemicals. We have no idea what the effect of these chemicals will do to us over time. Im just saying, cancer, obesity and severe heart disease came out of NOWHERE right as processed foods became the norm in the US. The fruit cup and one egg roll are the only sides that do not have 2 or more grams of trans fats. If the fruit cup isn’t for you, limit yourself to one egg roll. WHO KNEW!?! I know the two tacos are delicious (now I think they taste like slow death) and at times necessary to weather a hangover but think twice before eating those half soy half mystery meat oil pockets. Jack in the Box is one of the few fast food restaurants that refuses to eliminate trans fats from their menu so watch out. Not only does your body not need ANY trans fat EVER but it can lead to some serious healthy problems. Might as well have two tacos at your favorite Mexican food joint. And weed is the best cure for a hangover! Why do you think cancer patients smoke it for their nausea??

On This Day In History: FDA approves Viagra

On this day in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves use of the drug Viagra, an oral medication that treats impotence.

Sildenafil, the chemical name for Viagra, is an artificial compound that was originally synthesized and studied to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) and angina pectoris (a form of cardiovascular disease). Chemists at the Pfizer pharmaceutical company found, however, that while the drug had little effect on angina, it could induce penile erections. The reaction took about an hour, a little longer if the pill was taken after eating fatty foods. Seeing the economic opportunity in such a biochemical effect, Pfizer decided to market the drug for impotence. Sildenafil was patented in 1996, and a mere two years later--a stunningly short time compared to other drugs--it was approved by the FDA for use in treating "erectile dysfunction," the new clinical name for impotence. Though unconfirmed, it is believed the drug was invented by Peter Dunn and Albert Wood.

Viagra's massive success was practically instantaneous. In the first year alone, the $8-$10 pills yielded about a billion dollars in sales. Viagra's impact on the pharmaceutical and medical industries, as well as on the public consciousness, was also enormous. Though available by prescription only, Viagra was marketed on television, famously touted by ex-presidential candidate Bob Dole, then in his mid-70s. Such direct-to-consumer marketing was practically unprecedented for prescription drugs (now, sales and marketing account for approximately 30 percent of the pharmaceutical industry's costs, in some cases more than research and development). The drug was also offered over the internet--customers needed only to fill out an "online consultation" to receive samples.

An estimated 30 million men in the United States suffer from erectile dysfunction and a wave of new Viagra competitors, among them Cialis (tadalafil) and Levitra (vardenafil), has blown open the market. Drug companies are now not just targeting older men like Dole, but men in their 30s and 40s, too. As with many drugs, the long-term effects of Viagra on men's health are still unclear (Viagra does carry warnings for those who suffer from heart trouble), but its popularity shows no signs of slowing. To date, over 20 million Americans have tried it, and that number is sure to increase as the baby boomer population continues to age.

All hell going to break loose? Earthquakes "Predicted"

Could be a hoax or it could be a huge disaster. Either way, it's worth knowing. One of my coworkers sent the e-mail below to our whole office.

Hi Everyone,
My Mom works with someone who is a son of a geological institute employee.
Yesterday around 6:00pm he received a call from his dad telling him to be prepared
for the next 72 hours for an 8.6 earthquake in San Diego. His dad has been
working there for over 10 years and does this for a living. They say there have been over 800 earthquakes everyday this week and PREDICT the outcome of an 8.6 in San Diego.

They don't know exactly which part of San Diego the predicted earthquake will hit.
They do not want to release this information to the public due to county panic and since it is only a prediction they don't want people to get all worked up in case it doesn't happen.
Since this was at 6:00pm last night we are looking at around 50-60 hours left for this prediction.
I just wanted to share this information just so everyone is prepared in case this does happen.

EARTHQUAKE FORECAST

Salton Sea is swarming with earthquake data- LA TIMES

Government Earthquake Hazard Site

County Earthquake Facts and Preparedness

Thursday Night Haps

Here are my top pics for tonight. I can vouch for both. Lady D is a GREAT Dj and I've laughed my ass off at The Comedy Store!! Not sure about Dj Monster Pussy though...

Radio Room


The Comedy Store

Get Camping!!

By John D. Sutter

(CNN)-With the economy in a slump, camping seems to be grabbing a new foothold in the travel industry. Once considered by many to be an activity for nerdy families, nature geeks and Boy Scouts, sleeping outside in a tent has become chic -- likely because it is so much cheaper than paying for a hotel room.

The activity also strikes a new chord with Americans who want to get back to basics after an era of excess and overspending.

Outdoor camping's popularity jumped 7.4 percent between 2007 and 2008, according to a report from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. Overnight backpacking is up 18.5 percent, the report said.

"That's a significant change," said Mike May, the association's spokesman. "One thing about camping is once you buy a tent, you don't need to buy another one for a long time. It can be an inexpensive way to spend some recreational time."

Bloggers Note

I've been camping around San Diego for years with friends and nothing is more mentally repairing than breathing fresh air, seeing all the natural beauty of California and spending time, advertisement and technologically free with your friends. Wouldn't you know it that 45 minutes on the 8 East gets you to Mount Laguna? This gorgeous national forest has pine trees, lakes, wide open meadows and amazing trails all over. We spend about $40 each (3-4 peoeple, less if there is more) for three days up there!! That's how much I spend on drinks in ONE NIGHT if I'm lucky, and that's not even counting the drunk munchies after. Check out the links below to plan your trip. Im heading up to San Clemente State Beach to camp this weekend!!!

Reserve America

Mount Laguna

Lake Cuyamaca

Anza Borrego Desert

California State Parks Site

Baja California

HAHA

On This Day In History: Heaven's Gate cult members found dead

Following an anonymous tip, police enter a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, an exclusive suburb of San Diego, California, and discover 39 victims of a mass suicide. The deceased--21 women and 18 men of varying ages--were all found lying peaceably in matching dark clothes and Nike sneakers and had no noticeable signs of blood or trauma. It was later revealed that the men and women were members of the "Heaven's Gate" religious cult, whose leaders preached that suicide would allow them to leave their bodily "containers" and enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.

The cult was led by Marshall Applewhite, a music professor who, after surviving a near-death experience in 1972, was recruited into the cult by one of his nurses, Bonnie Lu Nettles. In 1975, Applewhite and Nettles persuaded a group of 20 people from Oregon to abandon their families and possessions and move to eastern Colorado, where they promised that an extraterrestrial spacecraft would take them to the "kingdom of heaven." Nettles, who called herself "Ti," and Applewhite, who took the name of "Do," explained that human bodies were merely containers that could be abandoned in favor of a higher physical existence. As the spacecraft never arrived, membership in Heaven's Gate diminished, and in 1985 Bonnie Lu Nettles, Applewhite's "sexless partner," died.

During the early 1990s, the cult resurfaced as Applewhite began recruiting new members. Soon after the 1995 discovery of the comet Hale-Bopp, the Heaven's Gate members became convinced that an alien spacecraft was on its way to earth, hidden from human detection behind the comet. In October 1996, Applewhite rented a large home in Rancho Santa Fe, explaining to the owner that his group was made up of Christian-based angels. Applewhite advocated sexual abstinence, and several male cult members followed his example by undergoing castration operations.

In 1997, as part of its 4,000-year orbit of the sun, the comet Hale-Bopp passed near Earth in one of the most impressive astronomical events of the 20th century. In late March 1997, as Hale-Bopp reached its closest distance to Earth, Applewhite and 38 of his followers drank a lethal mixture of phenobarbital and vodka and then lay down to die, hoping to leave their bodily containers, enter the alien spacecraft, and pass through Heaven's Gate into a higher existence.

Read More On Wikipedia About Heaven's Gate

DNTEL

Jimmy Tamborello
Figurine
Strictly Ballroom
Headset

If you like DNTEL you will like one of the above. They are all the same person. Did you, like the rest of the freaking world listen to the lone Postal Service album over and over again?? Part of the reason that album will forever be on my Top 20 of all time was Ben Gibbards great lyrics and smooth voice harmonizing with the perfectly faint vocals of Jenny Lewis. But I have to say, for me what did it was Jimmy Tamborellos AWESOME beats.Dreamy vocals over intricate, fresh, bomb ass beats, one of my favorite music smoothies. Check out DNTEL for long pensive drives, walks through a busy city, background music at an art show or boutique or laying blissed out at the beach.

My Favorites:

Album: Early Works for Me If It Works for You
Track: 1. "Loneliness Is Having No One to Miss"
Track: 8. "Danny Loves Experimental Electronics"

Album: Life Is Full of Possibilities
Track: 2. "Anywhere Anyone" vocals by Mia Doi Todd

Album: Something Always Goes Wrong
Track: 1. "In Which Our Hero Begins His Long and Arduous Quest"

Quote, RightS On

“A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement”

- Thomas Jefferson

Oh shit I just sent that E-mail to my whole office!!!

By Stephanie Chen
(CNN) -- Most of us have done it.
At Google's Gmail Labs work area, employees' e-mail ideas are made into reality.

Instead of hitting "reply" to an e-mail, we accidentally push "reply all," sending a potentially embarrassing or insulting message to those we didn't intend to see it.

To address this problem, Google Inc.'s Gmail Labs has launched an experimental feature called "Undo Send" that gives users a chance to rewrite their message, correct settings or simply fix typos.

When a Gmail user who enables this feature sends an e-mail, a button that says "Undo" will pop up on their screen for five seconds. If the user hits the button within that time, the service will retrieve the e-mail in draft form -- allowing the user to make changes or cancel the message altogether.

READ THE REST

Bigger Killer: Smoking Or Obesity?

Is being overweight as bad for you as smoking?
From Women's Health Magazine:


Sure, you avoid smoking because it's bad for you. But did you know eating cheeseburgers every night and skipping the gym can be just as bad for your health?

According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Oxford, being overweight can take years off your life, and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking.

Researchers determined that people with a body-mass index (BMI) of more than 40 (a BMI of 25 to 29 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or more is obese) lost approximately 10 years off their expected lifespan—about the same amount of time you’ll lose by smoking. Those with a BMI of 30 to 35 shaved about 3 years off their lives.

Calculate Your BMI

World Water Week, March 22-28 2009

CHECK OUT THE TAP PROJECT
What is the Tap Project?

In 2007, the Tap Project was born in New York City based on a simple concept: restaurants would ask their patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free, and all funds raised would support UNICEF’s efforts to bring clean and accessible water to millions of children around the world.

Growing from just 300 New York City restaurants in 2007 to over 2,300 across the country in 2008, the Tap Project has quickly grown into a national movement. Restaurants, corporations, volunteers, advertising agencies, community groups, local governments and everyday diners participated to save millions of children’s lives.

During World Water Week, March 22-28, 2009, the Tap Project will once again raise vital donations and awareness for UNICEF’s water and sanitation programs. For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days. All funds raised support UNICEF’s efforts to bring clean and accessible water to millions of children around the world.

There are a bunch of places all over San Diego participating in all the good that World Water Week Will Do, click the link below for locations. A force of local do'ers in town has collbrated with Cause For Drinks to bring the Tap Project to Starlite tomorrow, check out the flier below for details!!
Participating Restaurants in San Diego!!

The Future of America

SCARY. We need a "Babys Aren't a Fucking Joke Week" in America.

Sushi Fix in Little Italy to be replaced by yet ANOTHER burger place....

Im livid. Little Italy has The Waterfront, The Fucking Waterfront. Oldest bar in San Diego City AND the best burgers in San Diego, don't we all know that?? Apparently we all DON'T because a place called Just Burgers opened one door down awhile ago. And now, a place called Burger Lounge is opening on the corner of India and Cedar where my beloved Sushi Fix once stood. SERIOUSLY? ANOTHER burger place? Sushi is cursed in Little Italy, I can't even remember the name of that last sushi place. Sushi Fix wasn't the best, sushi snobs have a bunch to say on Yelp, but damn, if you ever wanted some straight up legit sushi and the worlds best sushi roll (Spicy Cruncy Cali Roll) that was where you went in Little Italy. It was fast, the menu was large and diverse but not overwhelming and the teenagers in their baseball tee's working there were nice. Im pretty sad, it was definitely nice to sit on the patio and people watch over miso soup, veggie tempura and a spider roll. Fact of the matter is reports about the harmful effects of eating large amounts of red meat are streaming out(and by large they mean more than one small patty a week!) and reports that diets rich with fish and and seaweed are very beneficial is no news. Lets face it, Japanese people live longer than Americans. Health or no health, Im going to miss you Sushi Fix and screw you Burger Lounge, go grab a burger at The Waterfront!!!

On This Day In History: Exxon Valdez runs aground

The worst oil spill in U.S. territory begins when the supertanker Exxon Valdez, owned and operated by the Exxon Corporation, runs aground on a reef in Prince William Sound in southern Alaska. An estimated 11 million gallons of oil eventually spilled into the water. Attempts to contain the massive spill were unsuccessful, and wind and currents spread the oil more than 100 miles from its source, eventually polluting more than 700 miles of coastline. Hundreds of thousands of birds and animals were adversely affected by the environmental disaster.

It was later revealed that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Valdez, was drinking at the time of the accident and allowed an uncertified officer to steer the massive vessel. In March 1990, Hazelwood was convicted of misdemeanor negligence, fined $50,000, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service. In July 1992, an Alaska court overturned Hazelwood's conviction, citing a federal statute that grants freedom from prosecution to those who report an oil spill.

Exxon itself was condemned by the National Transportation Safety Board and in early 1991 agreed under pressure from environmental groups to pay a penalty of $100 million and provide $1 billion over a 10-year period for the cost of the cleanup. However, later in the year, both Alaska and Exxon rejected the agreement, and in October 1991 the oil giant settled the matter by paying $25 million, less than 4 percent of the cleanup aid promised by Exxon earlier that year.

Serenbe: Awesome Eco Community, Hot new trend!

PALMETTO, Georgia (CNN) -- The idea of investing in new home construction and high-end restaurant businesses would send most entrepreneurs running these days, but developers in a small community in rural Georgia say they're still growing.

The community of Serenbe in rural Georgia is surrounded by 40,000 acres of dense forest. At first glance Serenbe is a bucolic scene of horses and stables ringed by 40,000 acres of dense oak and pine forest, but as you drive around the first bend, a collection of look-alike white houses emerges, giving the distinct impression of a conventional high-end housing development.

But a 21st century high-tech eco-village soon emerges from the mists.

There are paths leading to water recycling facilities, composting, recycling, and 25 acres of organic-certified farmland, four of which are planted with anything from hops for beer making to sweet peas. A silver sign is prominently displayed in recognition of Serenbe's ecologically sound construction, proving that Serenbe is not the average cookie-cutter housing development.

READ THE REST

HAHA

Excerpt: Parents, your kids aren't that special

Below is an excerpt from CNN commentator Jack Cafferty's new book, "Now or Never." Jack appears daily in "The Situation Room" on CNN from 4 to 7 p.m. ET.

In his new book, "Now or Never," Jack Cafferty says parenting might be on the decline more than schools are.

I never presumed to have any more answers about being a parent than anybody else.There are no perfect parents, perfect kids, perfect families -- only degrees of dysfunction.

You get up in the morning and do the best you can. At the end of the day you say, "Okay, that wasn't so bad, let's try it again tomorrow." Some of my instincts were pretty good and some of them were awful.

I did stay engaged and didn't say to hell with being a father when my first marriage ended. With the younger girls, I eventually made the choice to clean up my alcoholism before I pushed things to the point of no return. But most of the credit does to my second wife Carol; to the girls; and to God Almighty. Ultimately, I've just been very fortunate.

I don't know the status of parenting in America. But I know a little about the status of education in America. Parents' growing inability to impose manners and limits on their kids when the kids are in school is reflected in record dropout rates, as well as teen drug and alcohol abuse, teen sex, and unwed pregnancies. Maybe it's parenting that's on the decline, more than the schools.

Exhibit A: My wife and I have just been seated for dinner when the maitre d' walks over and seats a young family at the table next to us and the kids start carrying on like orangutans on a leash.

The parents are going, "Timmy, that's not nice, don't throw your food, stop stuffing your mashed potatoes up your nose." Are mom and dad having fun yet, picking food up off the floor, apologizing to people like us, and wiping food flung across the table off their faces?

Some parents still have this attitude that their kids are too special to be burdened by discipline. And the rest of us are supposed to put up with their little mutants. That attitude really pisses me off.

I hate to break it to them, but the kids aren't special, and I don't have to put up with their behavior. If you can't control your obnoxious little brats, leave them home.

They don't belong out in public annoying other people, period. I don't remember a generation of kids ever so indulged and enabled to behave so badly. What's going on?

I remember as a kid I was expected to behave myself out in public or suffer the wrath of one very angry father. And of all the things that used to piss him off, those expectations didn't seem unreasonable. Something's gone terribly wrong here. My guess is it has to do with the breakdown of authority, the collapse of strong family structure, and the abdication of parental responsibility, dictated in part by the necessity that both parents work.

Plus, we have a whole generation of Baby Boomers who are too busy feeling entitled to prolong their own self-indulgent, self-absorbed adolescences to rein in their own kids.

Just a theory.

On This Day In History: OK enters national vernacular

On this day in 1839, the initials "O.K." are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for "oll correct," a popular slang misspelling of "all correct" at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.

During the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice among younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang when talking to one another. Just as teenagers today have their own slang based on distortions of common words, such as "kewl" for "cool" or "DZ" for "these," the "in crowd" of the 1830s had a whole host of slang terms they abbreviated. Popular abbreviations included "KY" for "No use" ("know yuse"), "KG" for "No go" ("Know go"), and "OW" for all right ("oll wright").

Of all the abbreviations used during that time, OK was propelled into the limelight when it was printed in the Boston Morning Post as part of a joke. Its popularity exploded when it was picked up by contemporary politicians. When the incumbent president Martin Van Buren was up for reelection, his Democratic supporters organized a band of thugs to influence voters. This group was formally called the "O.K. Club," which referred both to Van Buren's nickname "Old Kinderhook" (based on his hometown of Kinderhook, New York), and to the term recently made popular in the papers. At the same time, the opposing Whig Party made use of "OK" to denigrate Van Buren's political mentor Andrew Jackson. According to the Whigs, Jackson invented the abbreviation "OK" to cover up his own misspelling of "all correct."

The man responsible for unraveling the mystery behind "OK" was an American linguist named Allen Walker Read. An English professor at Columbia University, Read dispelled a host of erroneous theories on the origins of "OK," ranging from the name of a popular Army biscuit (Orrin Kendall) to the name of a Haitian port famed for its rum (Aux Cayes) to the signature of a Choctaw chief named Old Keokuk. Whatever its origins, "OK" has become one of the most ubiquitous terms in the world, and certainly one of America's greatest lingual exports.

Today Is The First Day of Spring!!!

And a gloomy one it is, at least here in San Diego (so it's likely it's crappy everyhwere else)!! My friends in NYC say it's snowing there...geez! Soon the jacarandas will be in bloom and the SD Summer will officially begin!! It's going to be a gorgeous spring since we got so much rain.
Google decided to celebrate by dressing up it's name up in tribute to Eric Carle's, 80, much loved childrens book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The book, published in 1969, still sells one copy every 30 seconds in the world, 40 years after it was originally published.

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Cash Falls Like Rain on the 805!!!

On This Day In History: Uncle Tom's Cabin is published

Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, is published. The novel sold 300,000 copies within three months and was so widely read that when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862, he reportedly said, "So this is the little lady who made this big war."

Stowe was born in 1811, the seventh child of the famous Congregationalist minister Lyman Beecher. She studied at private schools in Connecticut, then taught in Hartford from 1827 until her father moved to Cincinnati in 1832. She accompanied him and continued to teach while writing stories and essays. In 1836, she married Calvin Ellis Stowe, with whom she had seven children. She published her first book, Mayflower, in 1843.

While living in Cincinnati, Stowe encountered fugitive slaves and the Underground Railroad. Later, she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin in reaction to recently tightened fugitive slave laws. The book had a major influence on the way the American public viewed slavery. The book established Stowe's reputation as a woman of letters. She traveled to England in 1853, where she was welcomed as a literary hero. Along with Ralph Waldo Emerson, she became one of the original contributors to The Atlantic, which launched in November 1857. In 1863, when Lincoln announced the end of slavery, she danced in the streets. Stowe continued to write throughout her life and died in 1896.

3,000 cars sit abandoned at the Dubai Airport

With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.

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