XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 01/03/12

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

Michelle Obama Jokes: "I Kind Of Like" Being Called Your Excellency -

First Lady Michelle Obama is to make a guest appearance on an upcoming episode of the popular Nickelodeon show iCarly.

In the episode, which airs on January 16, the First Lady helps the show's title character Carly get in touch with her father, an Air Force colonel who can't make it home for his birthday.

Obama surprises the girl and her friends, which leads to her being called "Your Excellency" by Carly's friend Sam Puckett.

After being corrected by a friend that you don't call the First Lady that, Michelle Obama jumps in and says "No, no, I kind of like it."

Read more -
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/01/03/michelle_obama_i_kind_of_like_being_called_your_excellency.html

Santorum has what you might call a Google problem -

Rick Santorum would very much like to be president. For the past few years, he has been diligently appearing at the sorts of conservative events—the Values Voters Summit, the Conservative Political Action Conference—where aspiring Republican candidates are expected to show up. But before he starts printing "Santorum 2012" bumper stickers, there's one issue the former GOP senator and his strategists need to address. You see, Santorum has what you might call a Google problem. For voters who decide to look him up online, one of the top three search results is usually the site SpreadingSantorum.com, which explains that Santorum's last name is a sexual neologism for "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex."

Santorum's problem got its start back in 2003, when the then-senator from Pennsylvania compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia, saying the "definition of marriage" has never included "man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be." The ensuing controversy prompted syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, who's gay, to start a contest, soliciting reader suggestions for slang terms to "memorialize the scandal." The winner came up with the "frothy mixture" idea, Savage launched a website, and a meme was born. Even though mainstream news outlets would never link to it, Savage's site rose in the Google rankings, thanks in part to bloggers who posted Santorum-related news on the site or linked to it from their blogs. Eventually it eclipsed Santorum's own campaign site in search results; some observers even suggested it may have contributed to Santorum's crushing 18-point defeat in his 2006 campaign against Bob Casey.
Read more -
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/rick-santorum-google-problem-dan-savage

The Maya World Braces For 2012 Apocalypse, Tourism Boom -

Mexican government officials are predicting a surge of visitors to the five southern states that comprise the country's Maya region. In Belize, which bills itself as "heartland of the Maya," airlines have committed tens of thousands of extra seats to accommodate projected interest from foreign visitors. In Guatemala, the country with the most living Maya, officials predict a 10 percent across-the-board increase in tourism.

The end of the world, it turns out, is marked by an economic boom.

"2012 will be a momentous occasion, not only for Belize's large Maya population, but for all Belizeans," said Yanick Dalhouse, the Belize Tourism Board's Director of Marketing. "Given the amount of interest we're seeing from around the world, it's generating global excitement as well."

Dalhouse is referring to the year 2012's significance as the end of the Maya Long Count calendar, a 5,125-year period of time which ends exactly on Gregorian calendar date December 21, 2012, the winter solstice. The date was inscribed in stone 1300 years ago near modern-day Tabasco, Mexico and its actual significance is debated among academics and theorists. There are hundreds of books on the subject and probably hundreds of theories, but the implication for Guatemala, southern Mexico, and Belize is clear and immediate: more visitors.

This region -- along with parts of Honduras and El Salvador -- make up the Mundo Maya, a diverse tropical region which includes the flat lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula and the verdant high country of Guatemala. A vast kingdom of city-states once dominated this region, but by 900 A.D. the Maya had abandoned their grand urban centers to Mother Nature, who hid them for half a millenium. Today, some ten million Maya descendants still live in the region and speak 30 indigenous Mayan languages.

In the southern Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatán, officials are expecting 52 million visitors next year (both domestic and international), and are planning over 500 Maya cultural events throughout the year. President Felipe Calderon announced this at a special summer solstice press conference in 2011 to launch Mexico's Maya 2012 tourism efforts.

Meanwhile, the city of Tapachula has erected a countdown clock in the town square and resorts along the Riviera Maya are planning special reenactments of the Maya ball game and Sacred Mayan Journey, in which hundreds of paddlers travel in canoes to the island of Cozumel to pay homage to the goddess Ixchel. There are academic Maya studies symposiums being held in Antigua, Uxmal, and Belize City in 2012 and plenty of still-unannounced concerts and gatherings.

Read more -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-berman/post_2775_b_1176085.html

Starbucks Caught Charging Hidden Fee - charging additional $1.50 for bags of coffee beans that weighed less than pound -

A Massachusetts state consumer agency recently discovered that Starbucks Coffee Co. was charging an additional $1.50 for bags of coffee beans that weighed less than a pound.

The extra service fee was never posted, and customers were never informed, violating Massachusetts' consumer protection act. "For example, beans listed at $11.95 per pound ended up costing $7.45 for a half-pound — not $5.98, or 50 percent of the price," the Boston Globe reports.

Starbucks representatives say the charge reflected "the additional labor and packaging needed to accommodate those customers’ unique request." Still, they've nixed the fee nationwide and had to pay a $1,575 fine.

Read more: http://www.thedailymeal.com/starbucks-caught-charging-hidden-fee?utm_source=Outbrain

Tonight’s Iowa Vote Count To Take Place At Secret Location - Rep. strategist says GOP will not allow Ron Paul to win -

Tonight’s final vote tally for the Iowa caucuses will take place at a secret undisclosed location, an announcement that has stoked fears of vote fraud amongst Ron Paul supporters, concerns that were heightened following a Republican insider’s claim that the GOP establishment will not allow Paul to win.

The final Iowa vote count normally takes place at state party headquarters in Des Moines, but following dubious “security concerns” about Occupy protesters disrupting the tabulation process, the Republican Party of Iowa announced that it would be moving the final vote count to a secret undisclosed location.
The move occurred despite Occupy protest leaders confirming there were no plans to disrupt the caucuses themselves.
“Votes in each of the 1,774 precincts will still be counted on location, and observers from the campaigns will be able to watch that process. That precinct information will then be conveyed to the state party’s tabulation center,” reports CNN.
WatchtheVote2012.com warns that not only Paul, but also Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum are “in grave danger of being cheated on Iowa caucus night 2012 by the Iowa State GOP and the 5 big TV networks.”
“The Iowa STATE Republican Party has a long history of rigging both the Iowa Straw Poll and the Iowa Caucus against populist, constitutionalist candidates like Ron Paul,” states the website, which is asking for observers to visit the voting precincts to help ensure a fair tabulation process.

“The RHINO GOP establishment also hates Presidential candidates like Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, even though these two are acceptable to the RHINOS in foreign policy matters. But, since Bachmann and Santorum ACTUALLY believe in their domestic and social issue agendas for the USA, they are also in danger of being cheated out of votes received at the state level. This is not an accusation against the Gingrich or Romney or Perry campaigns — but against the Iowa STATE GOP, and whichever groups they are in alliance with to “count” the votes at the state level.”
As the Brad Blog documents, the potential for the Iowa primary result to be manipulated by using saboteurs to flood vote for one candidate is considerable.
“No Photo ID is necessary for any voter in the Republican Iowa caucuses. No Photo ID is necessary to register as a Republican at the caucus site, even if you’re not already a registered voter. You may then cast your vote at the caucus on the same day you’ve registered (without a Photo ID).”
Vote fraud expert Bev Harris has compiled a checklist to aid vote observers in ensuring a fair count.
Concerns about vote fraud, subversion and undue influence on behalf of the Republican establishment that could serve to steal the Iowa caucuses from Ron Paul have gone viral today in the aftermath of Republican strategist Dee Dee Benkie telling a radio show last night that GOP insiders have resolved to prevent Ron Paul from winning tonight’s primary.
“They’re not going to want him to get number one, it’s very bad for Iowa, it’s terrible,” said Benkie, confirming the host’s claim that Iowa District Chairmen are organizing voting blocks to sabotage Paul’s chances by offering them sweetheart deals in return for voting against Paul.

Read more -
http://www.infowars.com/tonights-iowa-vote-count-to-take-place-at-secret-location/

Zeroes in a Billion? - This is too true to be funny ... -

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D.
A billion days ago no one on the earth walked on two feet.

E.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our governments are spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain ...

let's take a look at New Orleans ....

It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator,
Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans ... Interesting number ...

what does it mean?

A
Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B
Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C.
Or... if you are a family of four.. your family gets $2,066,012.

Imagine, now $700 billion bailing out banks in the US . That's enough to fund complete medical care for every man, woman and child currently alive in the US for 11 years!!

50 billion to bail out the auto industry???

Washington , D.C. & Ottawa

< HELLO!!! >

Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax , Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax upon Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Income Tax
Everything Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY???

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago ... and our nations were the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt ...

We had the largest middle class in the world..

and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?

Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to press '1' for English.

I hope this goes around the US & CANADA at least 1 billion times