THE NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Tourism is down in Hawai'i. The Asian market has really dried up but the number of visitors from Australia and Canada have risen sharply. Since rhe two country's currency is on par with the dollar and the fact that we speak a form of English that is understandable has increased their desire to visit paradise.

US military deaths in Iraq have reached 4,085. Lives lost due to lies from the White House.

Serial murderers are not strictly an American phenomenon.

Mexico's Federal Police are seeking to modernize their firepower. Just like American cops, they are vastly outgunned when going up against today's more aggressive criminal element.

After 239 years of monarchy, the Himalayan nation of Nepal is now a secular republic.

Archeologists have announced the discovery of a 3,000 year old fortified city in the Sinai. The largest to date.

Have a teenager? Feel the strong urge to lock them up until they are about, oh, 30 or so? Well, Somerset County, Skowhegan ME has put their jail up for sale. Cheaper than most houses.

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

FROM THE SIDELINES

I haven't been following the problems in Detroit too closely. But I know the people, and the City Council, there want their criminally indicted mayor out. Yesterday the Council voted a resolution requesting the Governor of Michigan to remove Kwame Kilpatrick from office. And he promptly vetoed it.

This is a sad story out of Florida where everybody loses. I understand the teacher's POV and the parent's also.

Monitoring traffic on radical Islamic websites around the world, the FBI believes that al Qaeda will release a new video shortly that urges Jihadists to use WMDs against the west. You can call me a cynic, but sometimes these alleged announcements seem to come at times when certain factions within our political system can make the greatest use of them. Almost seems to be orchestrated.

I am going to have to side with the art community over this story out of New South Wales. Nudity is not pornography. If the Prime Minister doesn't get that, maybe he should take a gander at the beautiful painting September Morn. The model in which is obviously of tender age.

Reuters has put together an interesting, and neutral, FACTBOX on McCain's and Obama's approach to foreign policy and diplomacy. And another one about the two candidates' ideas about the economy.

This Saturday's meeting of the DNC in Washington DC to resolve the issue of the uncounted delegates from Florida and Michigan could get really nasty.


A new poll in California seems to indicate that the majority of the residents are comfortable with gay marriage.

AN URGENT QUESTION:

When I go through security at the airport, can my digital camera and laptop go through the x-ray machine or do they need to bypass it? I am thinking the latter. But I know many of you travel and your experienced input would be appreciated.

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

AND THE WINNER IS...

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

From its opening on Thursday, through the 3-day Memorial Day holiday, it racked up $151,958,445 in ticket sales. Thats just in North America. Globally, its an estimated $312 million for just Friday, Saturday and Sunday (including the $127 million from North America those 3 days). Thats about what Bill Gates earned over the same period. Here are the Top-20 films of this past weekend.

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"Bond. James Bond."
The creator of that long running literary and cinematic series, Ian Fleming, was born 100 years ago today. JFK once commented that Fleming was his favorite author.

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The actor(?) Sharon Stone has succeeded in doing something no one else has ever accomplished. Pissing off 1 billion people with a single sentence. I wonder in the Guiness Book of World Records has a category for that?

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When White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan, left his position in April 2006, our (still) President Bush, at a press conference announcing McClellan's departure, said:

"One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas talking about the good old days of his time as the press secretary, And I can assure you, I will feel the same way then that I feel now, that I can say to Scott, job well done."

I wonder if (still) President Bush will feel the same way after he reads McClellan's new book. Which lays bare all of Bush's lies, skullduggery and any other two-bit "mal" word you can assign. Another nail in Dubya's legacy.

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The Pentagon has announced that, in 2007, the number of solders diagnosed with PTSD jumped roughly 50%.

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I am very tired. Almost have everything sorted out for my move. A lot of emotions when opening boxes that have been shut away for years and finding a bit of nostalgia here and there. Thats where those forgotten pics came from yesterday.

I hope your day is productive and profitable. Thank you very much for the time you can spare to spend here. I do appreciate it. Back later with more. Until then...

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

NUGGETS

Lugosi posted this earlier today and it is too funny not to share.

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Alissa & me at Sarentos on the Beach in the late winter of 2004. Now you can see why I wear a hat and beard.
Judy's daughter, and my "daughter", Amber when she was 17/18. She is 35 now.
Judy when she was about 32.
For an ugly old fart, I sure do have a lot of beautiful women in my life.

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Ever wonder where the writers of Star Trek - TNG came up with the Captain's last name? On this day in 1931 Piccard and Knipfer made the first balloon assent into the Earth's stratosphere. That same Piccard also made the first dive to the deepest part of the ocean at a different time. A true explorer who "went where no one has gone before."

10 years later, today, the British sank the German battleship Bismark. You may have seen the movie on late night television.

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That box on top of your TV that allows connection between it and the cable company's feed may be phased out. Which will mean one less remote control to lose.

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Do/did you like to Par-Tay? Been to some really wild ones I bet. But could they be as wild as our ancesters had?

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Ever had plumbing problems at your place? They never seem to occur during normal business hours do they? Usually at night or over a long weekend when nobody is available. Think of what the crew on the ISS must be experiencing, in zero-G no less. Yuck.

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It does have a bulge around it's middle. So how much does our galaxy, the Milky Way, weigh?

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A new entry for my LLDE file.

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Oh, that French attempt to set the world skydiving record has been put on hold. His balloon left without him.

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

A QUICK TRIP AROUND THE BLOCK

The pattern is starting to repeat itself again this year. I don't know if it is global warming, "El Nino" or what, but rainfall in the 50th State is drastically low. On the verge of being a drought again. And until the next monsoon in the late Fall, no relief is on the horizon.

Prior to the 20th Century, very few people were exposed to EMF. In fact the exposure rate was pretty stable for most of the world until the post-WWII boom. Now, your body is bombarded 24/7 with EMF. From power lines, cars, appliances, TV & radio transmissions, cell phones and wi-fi, just to name a few. Some folks are starting to claim an allergic reaction. They probably are correct but, sadly, the genie is already out of the bottle and I don't see how we'll ever recapture it.

A Continental Airlines pilot claims that a rocket whizzed past his plane. No, not from terrorists but a model rocket. Those things can reach heights of 40,000 feet.

I see that Canada's foreign minister has resigned after a scandal involving a former girlfrined and mishandling of gov't documents. And the Prime Minister of Israel may not be in office much longer either. Just a wee bit of a corruption problem for him.

Remember taking the SAT and ACT tests in high school? They pretty much determined what college/university you would be able to apply for or be forced to accept. There seems to be a growing trend for institutions of higher education to not even look at those scores anymore.

America has gun crimes, the UK has knife crimes. A cultural difference with the same outcome. Death. I guess the Brits just want to get more "up close & personal" when they snuff out a life while the Yanks tend to go for volume. Knifes went out of style in the US after West Side Story.

I have my opinions about the immigration issue and I am sure that you have yours. McCain seems to serve his up de jour, depending on which way the wind is blowing.

The Atlantic hurricane season starts on Sunday, June 1st, and runs until the 30th of November. This year, NOAA plans on using drone aircraft to supplement our traditional "Hurricane Hunters." While the C-130's penetrate a hurricane at about 10,000 feet, the drone's mission will be to enter the storms just 300 feet above sea level. They are hoping for 2-5 missions.

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"