Monday's Eye-Catching Headlines
New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg died on Monday from complications of pneumonia. He was 89. He had already announced he would not run for reelection this coming November. He'd left the Senate after 2000 but when another NJ senator decided not to run in 2002, Lautenberg jumped into and won that election.
The United States Supreme Court, by the narrowest of margins, decided that police can take DNA swabs from people they arrest for a "serious crime". They voted 5-4 that taking the swab is not an unreasonable search given DNA's "unparalleled ability to both exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty."
There may be a new reality TV series in this one. Medicare's Most Wanted. Won Suk Lee returned to the U.S. from South Korea and was promptly arrested. He is alleged to have bilked Medicare of more than $1.2 million. There are still 170 fugitives from justice on the list of Medicare's Most Wanted (I'm not making that up).
What's the price of free speech? If you're an NBA center talking during a postgame news conference and you drop the f-bomb and a gay slur into your comments, it is $75,000. That's how much the league fined Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert for his remarks after his team's win on Saturday. Yes, I know the concept of free speech has to go with government infringement, not the infringement of a pro sports league.
In other news from the NBA, point-guard Jason Kidd announced his retirement after 19 seasons in the league. Some think this might influence Lakers point-guard Steve Nash to reconsider his decision to return next season. Nash is one year younger than the 40 year old Kidd.
Is this note real or a really witty hoax? You decide for yourself: http://tinyurl.com/m6qrr5f
Penelope Cruz looks destined to change the answer to a movie trivia question. The question is, who is the only actress to become a Bond girl after winning an Oscar (the answer is of course Halle Berry)? It looks like Ms Cruz will be a Bond girl in the as yet untitled "Bond 24". Daniel Craig is also set to appear in the role for a 4th time although little else about the film is finalized. Production is still nearly a year away.
The price of visiting the "happiest place on Earth" is going up again. The latest increase brings the price for a single-day adult admission to Disneyland to $92. It is going even higher at Disney World in Orlando, $95 there. I remember buying an annual pass to the park in 1992 for only $200. If you live in Southern California, an annual pass that has no blackout dates now costs $669. One estimate puts the cost for a family of four to spend one day in the park will cost $459.
Imagine a fried egg and slices of smoked bacon between a sliced glazed donut. After June 7th you won't have to imagine it, you can just hit Dunkin' Donuts and get one. And believe it or not, it's only 360 calories.
Zynga, whose games include Words With Friends (my favorite), will lay off 18% of its staff and close several of its offices in an effort to shore up its financial position.
In Texas, a man was killed by a swarm of Africanized bees after he attempted to knock down an old building on his property. He was using a tractor to push down a chicken coop when he disturbed their hive. His wife and daughters were stung over 100 times each trying to rescue him.
A bus driver in Georgia posted something on Facebook and it got him fired by the school district that had employed him. Seems normal until you find out that what he'd posted was that one of his passengers had told him that he'd gone without lunch that day at the middle school he attended because his lunch card was 40 cents short. Johnny Cook related the story as it was told to him on his FB page and posted his phone number saying that the next time this happened to call him and he'd find the money so no kid would go hungry. Now he's been fired.
A soldier on his way to Afghanistan from Panama married his fiancee, who was in Denver, over Skype.
Normally I avoid Kardashian items, but Bruce Jenner's claims that he has met Kanye West only once have been debunked. What made this of interest to me was a photo which shows just where Bruce fits into things in his family. The photo is of Kim, Kanye, Kris and Bruce at a Lakers game. The three people with K as the first letter of their first names are sitting courtside. That Bruce dude is sitting to the rear and right of the power trio.
Lou Ferrigno says that CBS changed the first name of the Hulk's alter-ego from Bruce Banner to David Banner for the TV show he and the late Bill Bixby starred in because the network felt that "Bruce was kinda gay-ish."
A rep for Michael Douglas is backing off of a statement the actor made about having contracted throat cancer from having oral sex with someone who had HPV.
A poll conducted by Insurance.com reveals that spouses are the worst "back-seat drivers" followed by mothers and friends.
The United States Supreme Court, by the narrowest of margins, decided that police can take DNA swabs from people they arrest for a "serious crime". They voted 5-4 that taking the swab is not an unreasonable search given DNA's "unparalleled ability to both exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty."
There may be a new reality TV series in this one. Medicare's Most Wanted. Won Suk Lee returned to the U.S. from South Korea and was promptly arrested. He is alleged to have bilked Medicare of more than $1.2 million. There are still 170 fugitives from justice on the list of Medicare's Most Wanted (I'm not making that up).
What's the price of free speech? If you're an NBA center talking during a postgame news conference and you drop the f-bomb and a gay slur into your comments, it is $75,000. That's how much the league fined Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert for his remarks after his team's win on Saturday. Yes, I know the concept of free speech has to go with government infringement, not the infringement of a pro sports league.
In other news from the NBA, point-guard Jason Kidd announced his retirement after 19 seasons in the league. Some think this might influence Lakers point-guard Steve Nash to reconsider his decision to return next season. Nash is one year younger than the 40 year old Kidd.
Is this note real or a really witty hoax? You decide for yourself: http://tinyurl.com/m6qrr5f
Penelope Cruz looks destined to change the answer to a movie trivia question. The question is, who is the only actress to become a Bond girl after winning an Oscar (the answer is of course Halle Berry)? It looks like Ms Cruz will be a Bond girl in the as yet untitled "Bond 24". Daniel Craig is also set to appear in the role for a 4th time although little else about the film is finalized. Production is still nearly a year away.
The price of visiting the "happiest place on Earth" is going up again. The latest increase brings the price for a single-day adult admission to Disneyland to $92. It is going even higher at Disney World in Orlando, $95 there. I remember buying an annual pass to the park in 1992 for only $200. If you live in Southern California, an annual pass that has no blackout dates now costs $669. One estimate puts the cost for a family of four to spend one day in the park will cost $459.
Imagine a fried egg and slices of smoked bacon between a sliced glazed donut. After June 7th you won't have to imagine it, you can just hit Dunkin' Donuts and get one. And believe it or not, it's only 360 calories.
Zynga, whose games include Words With Friends (my favorite), will lay off 18% of its staff and close several of its offices in an effort to shore up its financial position.
In Texas, a man was killed by a swarm of Africanized bees after he attempted to knock down an old building on his property. He was using a tractor to push down a chicken coop when he disturbed their hive. His wife and daughters were stung over 100 times each trying to rescue him.
A bus driver in Georgia posted something on Facebook and it got him fired by the school district that had employed him. Seems normal until you find out that what he'd posted was that one of his passengers had told him that he'd gone without lunch that day at the middle school he attended because his lunch card was 40 cents short. Johnny Cook related the story as it was told to him on his FB page and posted his phone number saying that the next time this happened to call him and he'd find the money so no kid would go hungry. Now he's been fired.
A soldier on his way to Afghanistan from Panama married his fiancee, who was in Denver, over Skype.
Normally I avoid Kardashian items, but Bruce Jenner's claims that he has met Kanye West only once have been debunked. What made this of interest to me was a photo which shows just where Bruce fits into things in his family. The photo is of Kim, Kanye, Kris and Bruce at a Lakers game. The three people with K as the first letter of their first names are sitting courtside. That Bruce dude is sitting to the rear and right of the power trio.
Lou Ferrigno says that CBS changed the first name of the Hulk's alter-ego from Bruce Banner to David Banner for the TV show he and the late Bill Bixby starred in because the network felt that "Bruce was kinda gay-ish."
A rep for Michael Douglas is backing off of a statement the actor made about having contracted throat cancer from having oral sex with someone who had HPV.
A poll conducted by Insurance.com reveals that spouses are the worst "back-seat drivers" followed by mothers and friends.
posted by me at 2:21 PM
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