From Denny: This has been an interesting week. The State of the Union address by President Obama basically summed up how the Republicans have been screwing over the entire country in every aspect of our lives and how much fun the Republicans have had screwing over Prez Obama at every turn while he continues to be inclusive and gracious to them.
Let's see, then our very own highest court in the land decided toscrew overthe American people by letting loose the floodgates of the greedy Big Business monopolies to fund elections and completely control the politicians elected. Granted, the corrupt basically control most of the politicians, all of the Republicans and far too many of the Democrats.
And the most recent group to get screwed over? The print publishing industry. Those adorable hold-in-your-hand books may soon be no more. Why anyone is shocked is the surprise. Come on; we all grew up on Star Trek and Sy-Fy spin-off shows where they featured hand-held computers and digital books decades before computers were any smaller than a football field, filling whole cavernous rooms like over at NASA. Of course, comparing Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, to God is a bit of a stretch - OK, it's downright creepy. :)
Take a look and chuckle for the day at how the cartoonists responded to this week's news stories:
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From Denny: The outpouring of donations worldwide for the relief of suffering in Haiti following a 7.0 devastating earthquake is incredible. The following are a list of 67 well-known established charities to which you can donate safely.
The Mobile Giving Foundation has received over $30 million in text pledges from cell phone donors the past two weeks. Even the Pew Research Center was well impressed and threw out some statistics:
14% donated by text message 12% donated by phone 23% donated via the web 5% donated via email 39% donated in person via a church or other group
Here's something I doubt any of us thought about when we donated by text message or phone: how long will it take for the phone companies to send out that donation? Turns out it can take from 30, even up to 60 days to transfer customers' contributions, which is then added to the mobile phone bills.
The biggest carriers like Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have all decided to expedite those donations.
Here's each company's status:
Verizon Wireless: Last Friday, 22 January, they transferred $2.98 million. Today, 28 January, they transferred $4.84 million. Jeffrey Nelson declared the campaign "the largest outpouring of charitable support by texting in history — by far. In all of 2009, all mobile giving (via texting) to all charities totaled just under $4 million for the year."
AT&T: Donations are up to $10 million. The company says they will "advance payment of verified texted donations" to the Red Cross.
Sprint: Donations so far are $3.1 million. By Friday, 29 January, they will advance 80% of the donations with the remaining 20% placed into the usual 30 to 90 day settlement cycle.
T-Mobile: They are working hard to expedite on a weekly basis.
"HAITI" 90999 American Red Cross $10 "QUAKE" 20222 Clinton Bush Haiti Fund $10 "GIVE" 25383 MTV telethon $10 "HAITI" 25383 International Rescue Committee $5 "HAITI" 85944 International Medical Corps $10
"YELE" 501501 Yele Haiti foundation $5 "HAITI" 52000 The Salvation Army $10 "HOPE10" or "UNICEF" 20222 UNICEF $10 "HABITAT" 25383 Habitat for Humanity $10 "OXFAM" 25383 Oxfam America, Inc $10
"HAITI" 40579 National Religious Broadcasters $10 "SAVE" or "SAFE" 20222 Save the Children Federation $10 "GIVE" or "WORLD" 20222 World Vision, Inc $10 "CARE" 24383 CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc) $10 "AJWS" 25383 American Jewish World Service $10
*** THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS - even the smallest amount delivers a huge impact!
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From Denny: Finally, a happier story of triumph as a woman named Jeanette was pulled from the damaged building in strong health with minor injuries and dehydration after six days pinned down. This is an awesome story of her faith in God and her determination to survive to be reunited with her husband.
Of course, with any horrific disaster it helps to focus upon the positive. Nothing is more positive and heart-warming than the birthing of a new life. How fortunate this young mother was to have an entire USS Navy ship at her beck and call. The crew is all smiles to be a part of something so life affirming. Can you guess the new baby boy's name? Yes, it's Vinson, in honor of the ship and crew.
The ship is about 17 miles out from the shore of Haiti. They have been taking in any and all injured discovered on the streets of Haiti by U.S. troops. They were the closest American ship in the area and the first to arrive after the disaster.
Can you imagine being pregnant and deep in labor right after an earthquake? The things that had to be going through her mind as she was getting ready to birth her baby. Luck had it she was found by American troops who quickly transported her to the ship to deliver her baby safely.
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From Denny: This is so funny, mainly because the lampooning Italians have us accurately nailed to the wall. If you have ever wondered what Americans sound like to others who speak different languages you will laugh at this. An Italian singer decided to write a song with nothing but gibberish to sound like it was intelligible English. Of course, the funniest thing of all is that often today's music sounds unintelligible to us as well! :) But hey, pop music is really all about the beat that makes you want to dance and have fun! ("That's my story and I'm sticking to it!" as the saying goes in America...) I guess Americans can remind themselves of the other saying: "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery." Anyway, you look at it, this little musical spoof is great fun!
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* When I give a lecture, I accept that people look at their watches, but what I do not tolerate is when they look at it and raise it to their ear to find out if it stopped. - Marcel Achard
* Time will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks. - Euripides
* I would I could stand on a busy corner, hat in hand, and beg people to throw me all their wasted hours. - Bernard Berenson
* I've been on a calendar, but never on time. - Marilyn Monroe
* Time and Tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty. -Robert Frost
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