Viva Las Vegas

Las Vegas Trivia

Las Vegas means "the meadows" in Spanish.

In Nevada, there are more than 209,000 slot machines normally operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The first neon sign appeared in Las Vegas in 1954 at the Boulder Club.

The bell is the oldest symbol still used on today's slot machines.

The average annual temperature in Las Vegas is 66 degrees.

It would take 288 years for one person to spend one night in every hotel room in Las Vegas.

Shrimp consumption in Las Vegas is more than 60,000 pounds a day. That's higher than the rest of the country combined and adds up to 22 million pounds per year.

The Stardust was the first hotel in Vegas to add a sports book to its casino.

Nickel slots on the Strip pay back anywhere from 86.9 percent to 92.8 percent of what they take in.

Las Vegas casinos never use dice with rounded corners.

It's estimated that every day Las Vegas casinos give away $3 million of freebies (more than $1 billion per year) just to get customers through their doors.

It's against the law to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas.

The Horseshoe was the first Las Vegas casino to install carpeting.

A vagrant once turned a $400 Social Security check into $1.6 million playing blackjack in a Las Vegas casino.

According to suppliers, purple is the favorite ink color in daubers used by Las Vegas Bingo players.

The beam of light atop the Luxor in Las Vegas is made up of 39 individual lamps. Each xenon lamp costs $1,200 and will last about 2,000 hours. The electric bill for the Luxor beam is $51 an hour.

Las Vegas has the highest number of unlisted phone numbers of any U.S. city.

The iconic, waving neon cowboy, located at Vegas' Pioneer Club downtown, is named Vegas Vic.

Frank Sinatra was the first Vegas headliner to earn $100,000 per week.

More than 110,000 marriage licenses are issued in Las Vegas each year.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley were married at the original Aladdin hotel.

The Silver Slipper was the first casino to hire female card dealers on the Las Vegas Strip (in 1971).

And best of all, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!"

Friday, Man I Love Friday!!

This my friends is why I have cable T. V. and had it installed by the cable company.

Man Accidentally Kills Wife During Botched Satellite TV Install.

Sedalia, Missouri, a husband has admitted to shooting his wife during the install of a home satellite TV system.

Amazingly the husband, Ronald Long, was trying to use a .22-caliber pistol to shoot a hole through the wall in the couple's home to enable them to run a wire through to the television.

His first shot was apparently unsuccessful in penetrating the wall and his second shot somehow hit his wife in the chest, 34-year-old Patsy Long.

She was pronounced dead on Saturday night.

OK, how many of you have seen the size of a 22 bullet? How many of you have seen the size of the wire which is the same size of your cable cord.

A 38 would have been closer to the right size hole, a 357 magnum even much better.

I suspect his wife was telling him how to do the installation and he just couldn't take it any longer and the bullet somehow hit her in the chest.

Want to bet the dish companies are printing up labels to stick on their dishes warning about these new potential dangers of satellite dish installation?

Thwarted, alleged robber asks for call-back

Gives his number so he could return when owner was there to open safe.

CHICAGO - An alleged thief wasn't fazed when workers at a Chicago muffler shop told him a safe he wanted to rob wasn't open.

He just asked them to give him a call when their boss returned with the combination.
"He gave us his phone number when we told him we didn't have any money.

He told us to call him back when the owner came back with the money and he was going to come back and rob him," said worker Tony Diaz.

So like how much money could a muffler shop have in their safe?

This guy's parents knew how to teach stupid.



Clearly a case of entrapment

1 Of 2 93-Year-Olds Charged In Manatee County Sex Sting

MANATEE COUNTY - Prosecutors are moving ahead with a case against one of two 93-year-old men picked up during undercover prostitution stings.

In the case of Frank Milio, prosecutors have issued subpoenas and plan to take him to trial in April.

Milio, according to police records, tried to pay $20 in November to an undercover officer on 14th Street West.

Milio recently told the Herald-Tribune he was only flirting with the woman.

"I haven't had that in years," he said. "Ninety-three is kind of old."

Carlos Underhill, 93, will not be charged, although he does not deny stopping to chat with the "good-looking girl" who made eyes at him and turned out to be an undercover officer.

Police say Underhill was willing to pay $30 for sex and that he promised to come back a few hours later to consummate the deal.

Prosecutors say that they cannot move ahead with the criminal case because there is no way to prove Underhill planned to come back.

Underhill was fined $150 for trying to pick up a prostitute in 1990, when he was 75. In the latest case, he says, he was not cruising Tamiami Trail for sex: He just wanted to chat with the buxom woman who smiled at him as he drove past.

"All I was going to do was talk," he said Monday. "It wasn't for sex. I am 93, you know."

Yeah right, he just wanted to talk. Sure, just like most people that buy Playboy Magazine only want to read the articles.




Maybe he knew about a blue pill's anniversary.

Viagra Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary



More than 35 million men have taken "the little blue pill" since it was approved by the FDA to treat erectile dysfunction 10 years ago.

The drug has been lauded for igniting a second sexual revolution.

Former Republican senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole became a spokesman for the drug. "You know, it's a little embarrassing to talk about ED, but it's so important to millions of men and their partners that I decided to talk about it publicly," Dole said in the commercial.

If you think it doesn't work, look at Dole's face. He just can't quit grinning from ear to ear!!!

That's a wrap for this week. Going to take a nice desolate drive north to Reno for the weekend. Hope you have a good one as well!!

Month In Review

Let's get busy with some news.


Obama skipped church last Sunday. Instead he had a phone conversation with his mentor the Reverend Wright.




Hillary dodged more bullets from the press than she did on her trip in 1996 to Bosnia.



One of my all time favorite ice skaters retired.


BERLIN - Two-time Olympic champion Katarina Witt has ended her show career on ice with a final performance as Carmen - the role that accompanied her greatest triumph.

What a girl/woman!!


One of my favorite actors died.


Richard Widmark, March 26: The tough-guy actor, who crafted one of film's most repulsive villians for 1947's 'Kiss of Death' and later went on to portray cops, killers and gunslingers in dozens more films, died at home in Connecticut after a long illness. He was 93.

Anyone close to my age will know what a great actor he was.


D.B. Cooper's Parachute Possibly Found

SEATTLE- Hoping to solve at least part of a 36-year-old mystery, the FBI is analyzing a torn, tangled parachute found in southwest Washington to determine if it belonged to famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper.



D. B. Cooper the man, the myth, the legend.

If it is Cooper's parachute, that will solve one mystery — where he apparently landed — but it will raise another, Carr said.

In 1980, a family on a picnic found $5,880 of Cooper's money in a bag on a Columbia River beach, near Vancouver.

Some investigators believed it might have been washed down to the beach by the Washougal River. But if Cooper landed near Amboy and stashed the money bag there, there's no way it could have naturally reached the Washougal.

"If this is D.B. Cooper's parachute, the money could not have arrived at its discovery location by natural means," Carr said. "That whole theory is out the window."

This story is better than a Dime Store Novel. I hope this is not a hoax and the legend continues.

This is a much better mystery than the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa.

And last but not least....

The Peace Symbol Turns 50





When artist Gerald Holtom created the design for the peace symbol in 1958, one activist thought the three simple lines inside of a circle -- based on the semaphore symbols for the letters N and D, for nuclear disarmament -- would never catch on. Half a century later, it's hard to imagine a peace protest without one.

Peace and Love to all of my readers out there.

To Hell in a Handbasket

Today I thought I would give you a little sampling of how things are going in these United States.




Credit Crunch Puts Some Companies on S&P Watch List
Homeowners aren't alone in struggling to keep up with their interest payments. As Bear Stearns' near-brush with bankruptcy shows, some companies also are dodging the repo man. Already this year, 24 public companies with assets worth $9.9 billion have filed for bankruptcy protection, BankruptcyData.com says. That's two-thirds higher than the defaults during the same periods in 2007 and 2006.


Evenflo Recalls Infant Car Seats

VANDALIA, Ohio - Evenflo Co. issued a voluntary safety recall Friday on its Discovery infant car seat and is providing parents with free supplemental fasteners to prevent the seats from detaching in high-impact side collisions.


Baby Products Linked to Chemical Risk

CHICAGO - Baby shampoos, lotions and powders may expose infants to chemicals that have been linked with possible reproductive problems, a small study suggests.
The chemicals, called phthalates, are found in many ordinary products including cosmetics, toys, vinyl flooring and medical supplies. They are used to stabilize fragrances and make plastics flexible.


2003 Photos Reveal Warping on Bridge


The NTSB said that steel plates used to build the bridge were probably too thin to hold the bridge together.


Inspector Arrested in Crane Collapse


New York City begins rechecking dozens of cranes after a building inspector is accused of lying about inspecting the crane that collapsed March 15, killing seven people.


FDA Suspects Melons in Salmonella Cases

WASHINGTON - People should throw away cantaloupes from a Honduran manufacturer believed to be linked to a salmonella outbreak, the government said Saturday.


FDA: Heparin Illnesses Now in Germany

WASHINGTON - Dialysis patients in Germany have gotten sick using a different brand of the blood thinner heparin than was linked to 19 American deaths, U.S. officials announced Thursday, sparking concern that the problem could be more widespread than originally believed.


Brazilian Co. Buying US Beef Processor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - National Beef Packing Co., the nation's fourth-largest beef processor, said Tuesday it is being acquired by Brazilian giant JBS SA in a cash and stock deal worth $560 million. JBS also planned to buy Smithfield Food Inc.'s beef business to form the largest meat processor in the U.S., according to a published report.


Inspectors Say Meat Safety Is Threatened

LOS ANGELES - Sometimes, government inspectors responsible for examining slaughterhouse cattle for mad cow disease and other ills are so short-staffed that they find themselves peering down from catwalks at hundreds of animals at once, looking for such telltale signs as droopy ears, stumbling gait and facial paralysis.
The ranks of inspectors are so thin that slaughterhouse workers often figure out when "surprise" visits are about to take place, and make sure they are on their best behavior.


Panel Probes Electrocution of Troops


A congressional leader begins a probe into the electrocutions of at least 12 U.S. service members in Iraq since 2003. In one case, 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, left, was electrocuted while showering at his barracks in Baghdad. His parents are now suing KBR Inc., the American contractor that provided service to his quarters in the capital.


Pentagon Admits Mistaken Arms Shipment

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced Tuesday that the United States mistakenly shipped to Taiwan four electrical fuses designed for use on intercontinental ballistic missiles, but has since recovered them.


Government Benefit Programs in Trouble
WASHINGTON - Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges" with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe.


Maybe it's time to board it up and turn out the lights because the party is over!!



And to think this was a very small sampling of life as we know it here in the United States.

How Crazy

I don't know about you, but for me, I am tired of what people perceive as being the "politically correct" way to do things.

We have a lot of issues of great importance in our country on which advocates could better spend their time and energy.

Here is a prime example of someone just trying to make a living, but is being harassed by some bleeding hearts.


'Lunatic Asylum' Angers Advocates

WESTON, West Virginia - It is an intriguing and provocative name that translates to Web hits, phone calls and tour tickets - the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.



The new owners of this former mental institution in Weston, W. Va., have opened it up for tours. "It's not a freak show," one owner said.

It is a title, to some, that acknowledges history by recreating it, readopting one of the many names previously held by the long-vacant, 19th-century West Virginia mental institution known most recently as Weston Hospital.

But mental health advocates and a marketing expert say the new owners of the massive Gothic Revival hospital have gone too far, denigrating the suffering of former patients and reopening wounds with planned events like "Psyco Path" dirt bike races on the grounds.

They say words like "lunatic" and "retarded" have gone the way of "colored" and "Negro" - and should never be resurrected.

"It's like turning back the clock to a time we don't want to go back to," says Ann McDaniel, executive director of the Statewide Independent Living Council, one of several advocacy groups to object. "I think they could still do what they want to do without being offensive."

Scott Miller, director of Mountain State Direct Action Center in Lewisburg, says one former patient burst into tears after seeing the name on a sign.

"It's not just that I'm a liberal and I think it's not a good idea. It's seeing people physically hurt," he says. "That's about all I needed to know."

Rebecca Jordan, whose family now owns the 307-acre (124-hectare) complex, sees things differently.

"This part of history is vital, and you cannot bury what you don't like," she says.
"Should we take down the Holocaust museum?

Should we completely deny all that happened because it's not favorable? Because it might hurt a few feelings?"

The daily tours that began last week, $10 to $30 depending on duration, focus on serious issues such as the evolution of mental health care, the Civil War, the Great Depression, even architecture.

"Not one person who has gone through this place and taken the tour has said that one thing was offensive," Jordan says. "It's not a freak show."

The hospital is one of the world's largest hand-cut sandstone structures, a National Historic Landmark that once housed more than 2,000 patients but has stood largely silent since 1994.

After struggling to find a suitable, sustainable use, the state sold it at auction last summer for $1.5 million (euro970,000) to Jordan's father, Joe, an asbestos demolition contractor.

They plan events on the grounds all year: "mud bog" races, in which trucks try to speed through a pit without getting stuck; a reunion of former employees; "Hospital of Horrors" haunting tours in October; and a "Nightmare Before Christmas" tour Dec. 23.

But the Jordans' approach to marketing "cheapens and denigrates the whole field of psychology," argues Jerry Kirkpatrick, professor of business and marketing at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

"They are sending mixed signals about the nature of the product they are selling. Are they selling history? Or dirt bike races and Halloween nights?" he says. "Sooner or later, one of these themes will have to move to the forefront and the other will fall to the side."

Kirkpatrick says serious treatment of the institution might mean putting recreational opportunities into a separate business and preserving the hospital as "a proper memorial."

"I can't imagine a long life for the present operation," he adds, "unless they have a lot of money to throw at it."

It appears they do not.

With renovations projected to cost tens of millions of dollars, "It's going to be 50 years before we see revenue on this property," says Rebecca Jordan. "But this county is going to benefit in the next month because of the business we're going to bring in."

Historian Joy Gilchrist-Stalnaker has worked nearly a decade to save the building where three of her ancestors died.

"Yes, terrible things happened ... and we're sorry for them," she says.

But the hospital also offered more humane treatment for people who had been shackled in prison cells, locked in cellars or otherwise mistreated.

Its name, she says, is not offensive. It is a reminder of a past no one should forget.

Well said by historian Joy Gilchrist-Stalnaker who had a first-hand experience as three of her ancestors died there.

I hear the word lunatic used a lot. In fact, in traffic the other day as a car cut me off, I called him a @#%& lunatic.

Who among you has not said or does not say someone belongs in a looney bin.

Or they say someone is just plain looney.

Does this mean we can no longer say looney tunes?

So what's next, the word crazy?

No more crazy glue, no more crazy 8's, no more crazy songs, no more wild and crazy guy, no more I go crazy for something new, no more he's gone completely crazy, no more that's a crazy idea and worst of all the women can no longer yell at their husbands, "Have you gone completely crazy?"

Friends, the requirement to be politically correct in our world has gone totally insane.

American Cannibal

OK I'm sure everyone had a great Easter and ate a lot of good food.

So, thinking about food, today I thought I would share a story about different tastes.

By now everyone has heard the story of the Donner Party but how many of you know about...


Alfred G. "Alferd" Packer?

Alfred G. "Alferd" Packer (January 21, 1842 – April 23, 1907) was an American cannibal.
First tried for murder, Packer was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter.

Packer's life
Packer was born as Alfred G. Packer in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to James Packer (son of two first cousins, Moses Packer and wife Hannah Packer) and wife Esther Griner (or Crider).

He was a shoemaker by trade. Packer served on the Union side in the American Civil War, enlisting in April 1862 in Company F, 16th U. S. Infantry Regiment.

However, he was discharged for epilepsy the following December. He then enlisted in Company L, 8th Iowa Cavalry Regiment, but was discharged again for the same reason.

He then decided to go west and try his luck at prospecting.

In November, 1873, Packer was with a party of 21 who left Provo, Utah, bound for the Colorado gold country around Breckenridge.

On January 21, 1874 he met with Chief Ouray, known as the White Man's Friend, near Montrose, Colorado. Chief Ouray recommended they postpone their expedition until spring, as they were likely to encounter dangerous winter weather in the mountains.

Ignoring Ouray's advice, Packer and five others left for Gunnison, Colorado on February 9. The other men were Shannon Wilson Bell, James Humphrey, Frank "Reddy" Miller, George "California" Noon and Israel Swan.

The party got hopelessly lost, ran out of provisions, and became snowbound in the Rocky Mountains. Packer allegedly went scouting and came back to discover Bell roasting human flesh. According to Packer, Bell rushed him with a hatchet.

Packer shot and killed him. Packer insisted that Bell had gone mad and murdered the others.

On April 16, 1874, Packer arrived alone at Los Pinos Indian Agency near Gunnison. He spent some time in a Saguache, Colorado saloon, meeting several of his previous party.

He initially claimed self-defense, but his story was not believed. During the trial, the judge supposedly said:

"Damn you, Alferd Packer! There were seven Dimmycrats in Hinsdale County and you ate five of them!"

An alternate version of the judge's outburst is

"Packer, you depraved Republican son of a bitch! There were only five Democrats in Hinsdale County and you ate them all!"
The actual sentencing statement was more in character for an educated state judge:

"Close your ears to the blandishments of hope. Listen not to the flattering promises of life, but prepare for the dread certainty of death."

Packer signed a confession on August 5, 1874. He was jailed in Saguache, but escaped soon after, vanishing for several years.

On March 11, 1883, Packer was discovered in Cheyenne, Wyoming living under the alias of "John Schwartze."

On March 16, he signed another confession. On April 6, a trial began in Lake City, Colorado. On April 13, he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to death.

Packer managed to temporarily avoid punishment again. In October 1885, the sentence was reversed by the Colorado Supreme Court as being based on an ex post facto law.

However, on June 8, 1886, Packer was sentenced to 40 years at another trial in Gunnison. At the time, this was the longest custodial sentence in U.S. history.

On June 19, 1899, Packer's sentence was upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court. However, he was paroled on February 8, 1901 and went to work as a guard at the Denver Post.

He died in Deer Creek, in Jefferson County, Colorado. Packer is widely rumored to have become a vegetarian before his death, reputedly of "Senility - trouble & worry" at the age of 65.

He was buried in Littleton, Colorado. His grave is marked with a veteran's tombstone listing his original regiment.
Packer is a legend in popular culture. He has been quoted as having said, in jest, "the breasts of man...are the sweetest meat I ever tasted."


In 1968, students at the University of Colorado at Boulder named their new cafeteria grill the Alferd G. Packer Memorial Grill with the slogan "Have a friend for lunch!" Even today students can enjoy the meat-filled "El Canibal" underneath a giant wall map outlining his travels through Colorado. In 1982 the university dedicated a statue to Packer.

From The Ballad of Alfred Packer
"In the Colorado Rockies
Where the snow is deep and cold
And a man afoot can starve to death
Unless he's brave and bold

Oh Alfred Packer
You'll surely go to hell
While all the others starved to death
You dined a bit too well"

There is an annual Alfred Packer 50 mile hike in Denver; there is an Alfred Packer barbecue cookoff held every May in Gunnison, Colorado. There is also a trail mix sold in Colorado called "Alferd Packer Gorp".

I looked all over the internet for possibly his cookbook with trailside recipes, but have not had any luck finding any.

Mystic Monk Padre Pio Part 3

Today is the third and final part of my story about Padre Pio.

Accusations made against Padre Pio

As Padre Pio's fame grew, his ministry began to take the center-stage at the friary.

Many pilgrims flocked to see him and he spent around nineteen hours each day saying Mass, hearing confessions and corresponding, often sleeping not even two hours per day.

His fame had the negative side effect that accusations against him made their way to the Holy Office in Rome (since 1983, known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith), causing many restrictions to be placed on him.

His accusers included high-ranking archbishops, bishops, theologians and physicians.

Nature of the charges
They brought several accusations against him, including insanity, immoral attitude towards women - claims that he had intercourse with women in the confessional; misuse of funds, and deception - claims that the stigmata were induced with acid in order to gain fame, and that the reported odor of sanctity around him being the result of self-administered eau-de-cologne.

The founder of Rome's Catholic university hospital concluded Padre Pio was "an ignorant and self-mutilating psychopath who exploited people's credulity."

In short, he was accused of infractions against all three of his monastic vows: poverty, chastity and obedience.

In 1923, he was forbidden to teach teenage boys in the school attached to the monastery because he was considered "a noxious Socrates, capable of perverting the fragile lives and souls of boys."

Investigations
Padre Pio was subject to numerous investigations. Fearing local riots, a plan to transfer Padre Pio to another friary was dropped and a second plan was aborted when a riot almost happened.

In the period from 1924 to 1931 the Holy See made various statements denying that the happenings in the life of Padre Pio were due to any divine cause.

At one point, he was prevented from performing all his priestly duties (such as hearing confessions), except for saying Mass, and even that was to be done in private.

Scandalous right? Evidently not.

For years the Vatican opposed the cult which grew up around Padre Pio, but then changed its attitude, granting him the highest honor possible after his death: full sainthood.

Pope John Paul II made him a saint in 2002 at a ceremony that drew one of the biggest crowds ever to the Vatican after the Church said it had found evidence that the miraculous cure of a sick woman was due to the dead monk's intercession.

No sign of stigmata as monk's body is exhumed after 40 years.

Neither his feet nor his hands showed any sign of the wounds expected of a man who the church says bled as Christ did on the cross – spontaneously and without cause, on and off for more than 50 years.

Domenico D'Ambrosio was forced to say, after examining the body again in daylight on Monday: "The signs of the stigmata were not visible."

And so the strange case of Padre Pio, closed on the authority of the last Pope, has been reopened along with his tomb.

He still gets to be a saint because according to Catholic doctrine, canonization carries with it papal infallibility.

I hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope you have a great weekend.

Mystic Monk Padre Pio Part 2

Today part two of the infamous or the Saint Pio depending on your point of view.

Padre Pio and the Stigmata

Padre Pio bore the wounds of Jesus on his hands, feet, and side for 50 years.

Several days before he died in 1968, all evidence of the wounds disappeared.

On October 22, 1918, Padre Pio wrote to his spiritual advisor, Padre Benedetto, describing how he received the stigmata.

"On the morning of the 20th of last month, in the choir, after I had celebrated Mass, I yielded to a drowsiness similar to a sweet sleep.

All the internal and external senses and even the very faculties of my soul were immersed in indescribable stillness.

Absolute silence surrounded and invaded me.

I was suddenly filled with great peace and abandonment which effaced everything else and caused a lull in the turmoil.

All this happened in a flash.

"While this was taking place, I saw before me a mysterious person similar to the one I had seen on the evening of 5 August.

The only difference was that his hands and feet and side were dripping blood. The sight terrified me and what I felt at that moment is indescribable.

I thought I should die and really should have died if the Lord had not intervened and strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest.

"The vision disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were dripping blood.
Imagine the agony I experienced and continue to experience almost every day.

The heart wound bleeds continually, especially from Thursday evening until Saturday.

Dear Father, I am dying of pain because of the wounds and the resulting embarrassment I feel in my soul.

I am afraid I shall bleed to death if the Lord does not hear my heartfelt supplication to relieve me of this condition.

Will Jesus, who is so good, grant me this grace? Will he at least free me from the embarrassment caused by these outward signs?

I will raise my voice and will not stop imploring him until in his mercy he takes away, not the wound or the pain, which is impossible since I wish to be inebriated with pain, but these outward signs which cause me such embarrassment and unbearable humiliation."

But Padre Pio was dogged during his life and even after his death by accusations that he was a fraud.

A new book last year suggested he was a self-harming man who may have used carbolic acid to create wounds in his hands mimicking those of Christ when he was nailed to the cross.

Church officials have repeatedly denied that he was a fake.

But then church officials have denied a lot of things over the years.

Hence all of the settlements they have had to pay out for their Priests' sins.

Tomorrow the final of my three-part story.

Mystic Monk Padre Pio Part 1

In trying to entertain you, I have put all kinds of things on here that go from one end of the spectrum to other - some good, some bad and some that are out there.

I spend a lot of time searching for something a little different.

Today, tomorrow and Friday I have a different and strange story for your review.


Popular Catholic Saint Exhumed in Rome

ROME - The body of the mystic monk Padre Pio, one of the Roman Catholic world's most revered saints who died 40 years ago, has been exhumed to be prepared for display to his many devotees.

The friar, born Francesco Forgione, died in 1968 aged 81.

Clergymen in the southern Italian town of San Giovanni Rotondo look at a glass-top coffin containing the remains of Padre Pio, one of the Roman Catholic world's most revered saints who died 40 years ago. His body was exhumed and is set to go on display in Rome in late April.

The body of the Capuchin friar, who was said to have had the stigmata -- the wounds of Christ's crucifixion -- on his hands and feet -- is to be conserved and put in a part-glass coffin for at least several months from April 24.

The accounts of those who stayed with Padre Pio till the end state that the stigmata had completely disappeared without even leaving a scar. Only a red mark "as if drawn by a red pencil" remained on his side which then disappeared.

A Church statement said the body was in "fair condition", particularly the hands, which Archbishop Domenico D'Ambrosio, who witnessed the exhumation in the southern Italian town where Pio died, said "looked like they had just undergone a manicure".

A spokesman for the monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo said he believed morticians would be able to conserve the face of the bearded monk well enough for it to be recognizable.

The body, which had been buried under marble in a crypt, was exhumed during a three-hour service that ended after midnight.

A Catholic magazine once found that far more Italian Catholics prayed to Padre Pio than to any other icon of the faith, including the Virgin Mary or Jesus.

Some 7 million people visit his tomb every year. There are some 3,000 "Padre Pio Prayer Groups" around the world, with a membership of around 3 million.

OK, so is this not weird to dig up a body that is in fair condition and put it on public display?

Do you also find it weird that more Italian Catholics prayed to Padre Pio than to any other icon of the faith, including the Virgin Mary or Jesus?

I'm not an expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express one time and as I was thumbing through the Gideon's that was conveniently located in the night stand drawer on the right side of the bed, I came across the following;

"I am the Lord your God , you shall have no other gods before me."

"You shall not make for yourself any graven images, and worship them."

So does that mean those Catholics praying to Padre Pio and any other icon of the faith, including the Virgin Mary or Jesus, have never stayed in a Holiday Inn Express?

How do you view their practice of digging up their own revered dead and sprucing them up for general display?

I will be truly surprised if there will not be a "cover charge" for viewing Padre Pio.

Among the stories that surround him is one that he wrestled with the devil in his monastery cell.

Padre Pio is also said to have predicted future events, to have been seen in two places at once, and to have been able to tell people their sins before they confessed them to him.

More about Padre Pio tomorrow for those of you that don't know the history about this fake saint.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Yesterday, I asked you when are the American people going to wake up to the B.S. people running for office keep selling?

Today I ask the same question.





























OK, OK all we hear is how Hillary has so much experience and is ready to hit the ground running on day one.

According to Hillary she has all this experience because she was at Bill's side through everything which makes her an expert.

By his side through everything!!!

So let's see what she really learned.
























































































































































































Sorry Hillary, even though it appears you have been practicing, someone else was there with Bill and you have overstated your qualifications!!!






































Wake up America!!!!

Barack Hussein Obama Jr.

When are the American people going to wake up to the B.S. people running for office keep selling?

Obama Denounces Pastor's 9/11 Tirade














In a sermon on the Sunday after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Wright suggested the United States brought on the attacks.

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Wright said. "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

In a 2003 sermon, he said blacks should condemn the United States.

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

He also gave a sermon in December comparing Obama to Jesus, promoting his candidacy and criticizing his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Barack Hussein Obama says he "categorically" denounces Wright's remarks, which he says don't reflect the kinds of sermons he has heard from the pastor.

So Barack Hussein Obama has attended church regularly for 20 years and he wants us to believe he has never heard sermons like that!!

Maybe he slept a lot, kinda' like he did in the Senate.

Obama called the statements appearing on television and the Internet "completely unacceptable and inexcusable" in a Fox News interview and said they did not reflect the kinds of sermons he had heard from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright while attending services at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

Barack Hussein Obama, a member of the church since the early 1990s, said he would have quit Trinity had such statements been "the repeated tenor of the church. ... I wouldn't feel comfortable there."

Barack Hussein Obama told MSNBC that he would not repudiate Wright as a man, describing him as "like an uncle" who says something that he disagrees with and must speak out against.

So Barack Hussein Obama wants us to believe he and his "Uncle" have never had conversations like Wright preaches to all his parishioners except Obama.

Wright is pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which Obama joined nearly 20 years ago. Barack Hussein Obama and his wife, Michelle, were married there.

Wright brought Obama to Christianity, officiated at his wedding, baptized his daughters and inspired the title of his book, "The Audacity of Hope."

Barack Hussein Obama wrote that he has looked to Wright for spiritual advice, not political guidance.

No political guidance - then why was Wright part of his campaign? I'm sure Obama knew nothing about Wright comparing Obama to Jesus.

Barack Hussein Obama told MSNBC that Wright had stepped down from his campaign's African American Religious Leadership Committee.

“Sure this person has been one of my best friends/spiritual adviser/godparent to my child, but I can't be held responsible for all of his lunatic views and suspicious business deals — everyone understands that.”

No not everybody does. I for one sure don't understand that!!

His best friend/spiritual adviser/godparent to his child and he has never heard Rev. Jeremiah Wright speak sermons condemning the United States while attending services at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.

Right!!! I love it how politicans think all voters are stupid and only vote the way the news media want them to. Oh wait, the news media are acting like Barack Hussein Obama is telling the truth, so maybe we the voters are stupid.





Wake Up America!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not Enough Sex

More Housework = More Sex: Time to Get Your Broom Out, Boys



Dust off your mops, get the Swiffer out of the closet, and turn off your T.V.

Guess what? If you do a couple of dishes, you might find yourself getting more action this spring.

A new study finds that men who do more housework are being rewarded with more sex. The Council on Contemporary Families reports that men have dramatically increased their time caring for children over the past four decades, and as a result women's sexual desire has increased.

"If a guy does housework, it looks to the woman like he really cares about her -- he's not treating her like a servant," Bay Area psychologist Joshua Coleman, who is affiliated with the Council on Contemporary Families, says. "And if a woman feels stressed out because the house is a mess and the guy's sitting on the couch while she's vacuuming, that's not going to put her in the mood."

Wow I just finished washing the windows, mopping the floors, dusting, vacuuming, washed and hung the the laundry out to dry, ironed the clothes, sheets, pillowcases and am cooking dinner.

Score!!



OK I know some people that didn't help out with the housework at home.

N.Y. Governor Linked to Prostitution Ring














According to the law enforcement official, Spitzer is the person identified in legal papers as "Client 9," who paid to bring the prostitute named "Kristen" from New York to Washington for a four-hour tryst at a hotel on Feb. 13.

The court papers gave this account of the encounter:

A defendant, Temeka Rachelle Lewis, confirmed that Client 9 would be "paying for everything — train tickets, cab fare from the hotel and back, mini bar or room service, travel time, and hotel."

The client paid $4,300 in cash to the service, with some being used for the encounter and the rest apparently to be used for credit. When discussing how the payments would be arranged, Client 9 told Lewis: "Yup, same as in the past, no question about it," suggesting it was a routine exchange.

The prostitute, who authorities described as a "petite, pretty brunette, 5-feet-5 inches, and 105 pounds," met the client in Room 871 at about 10 p.m.















The agent said she had been told the client "would ask you to do things that ... you might not think were safe ... very basic things," according to the papers, but that Kristen responded by saying, "I have a way of dealing with that ... I'd be, like, listen dude, you really want the sex?"


A Few Other Political Sex Scandals

Sen. Larry Craig pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct in a sting that aimed to curb public sexual acts in a Minneapolis men's airport bathroom in August 2008.

The phone number of Sen. David Vitter turned up on a list of phone records in the case against alleged brothel owner Deborah Jeane Palfrey, aka "the D.C. Madam.

Rep. Mark Foley resigned last fall after sexually explicit messages to underage male pages surfaced.

James McGreevey resigned his post as the governor of New Jersey in November 2004 after admitting to an affair with a male employee.

Neil Goldschmidt former Oregon governor - affair with underage female, 1970s

Sen. Bob Packwood resigned his seat in 1995 after being accused of sexual misconduct by 29 women.

In 1989, Rep. Donald Lukens was convicted on a misdemeanor charge for paying a 16-year-old girl to have sex with him in 1988.

Rep. Barney Frank, in 1989 admitted to dating a male escort but said he did not know the man was running a prostitution service from Frank's apartment.

Democrat Gary Hart was caught in an extramarital affair with model Donna Rice in 1988.

In 1983 the House censured Rep. Gerry Studds, and Rep. Daniel Crane for separate cases of sexual activity with underage pages.

In 1974, Rep. Wilbur Mills was pulled over in his car and his girlfriend, a stripper with the stage name Fanne Fox, jumped out and dived into the Tidal Basin.

Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off the Dike Bridge and into the channel between Chappaquiddick Island and Martha's Vineyard, killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, a former 1968 presidential campaign staff member.





















The House impeached President Bill Clinton in 1998 for lying under oath and obstructing justice in a probe into his extramarital affair with intern Monica Lewinsky.


















Man, sex is a thriving business.

Train tickets, cab fare from the hotel and back, mini bar or room service, travel time,hotel and $4,300.

Wow she must be something else!!! "Sizzlin Hot"

Doing chores around the house is a lot cheaper and has far less consequences don't ya think?

The list goes on and on but that's it for this week as I have to go finish washing and drying the dishes.

Score!!!!

Just Stupid People

The Democrats are in control and they also want one of theirs to be president.



IF THEY CAN'T GET PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATING RIGHT, HOW CAN THEY RUN THE COUNTRY?

Do-Over in Michigan and Florida?

WASHINGTON -- Officials in Michigan and Florida are showing renewed interest in holding repeat presidential nominating contests so that their votes will count in the epic Democratic campaign.




















Officials in Florida and Michigan are considering holding do-over contests because votes from their primaries won't count at the Democratic National Convention.

The Democratic National Committee stripped both states of all delegates because they broke party rules and held their primaries too early.

Granholm, a Democrat, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican, issued a joint statement Wednesday demanding that their delegates be seated.

Crist told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that he does not support having another primary at taxpayer expense. The Florida Democratic Party said the state estimates it would cost $25 million

Typical Democrats, what's $25 million when it comes to taxpayers' money!!




The scholars at Harvard are not so smart.

Harvard's No-Men Gym Hours Cause Stir

BOSTON - Harvard University has banned men from one of its gyms for a few hours a week, a move to accommodate Muslim women who, for religious and cultural reasons, cannot exercise comfortably in their presence.

The policy is already unpopular with many on campus, however, including some women who consider it sexist.















A sign announces women-only hours at a Harvard University gym. A request from a group of Muslim women led the gym to adopt the hours on a trial basis.

"I think that it's incorrect in a college setting to institute a policy in which half of the campus gets wronged or denied a resource that's supposed to be for everyone," said student Lucy Caldwell, who also wrote a column in The Harvard Crimson newspaper critical of the new hours.

Student Ola Aljawhary, who is Muslim and works out elsewhere on campus but is not one of the women who requested the change, rejected that argument.

"The majority should be willing to compromise," she said. "I think that's just basic courtesy. We must show tolerance and respect for all others."

Harvard, give me a break.

How stupid have we become? Is this the United States or some foreign country?

Once again the majority was opposed to something this stupid, but Harvard, in their infinite wisdom, gave into the wishes of six. (6)

How many Muslims were on and in control of the planes on 9-11?

Have the Harvard scholars forgotten?