11 years ago today...

We were deep in the midst of the Blizzard of 1996..

Senator Joe Biden on this morning's MEET THE PRESS: I am running for president in 2008..

Web wars
When you type in edwards08.com, it continues to be redirected to Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential site? Why? The Huffington POST on the case...Hillary bought Edwards08.com!

The angel Jolie above.. Wal-Mart?

Painting getting much notice.. Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary above a Wal-Mart checkout line...

MORE: The painting was done by a North Carolina artist that was intrigued by the public obsession over Jolie..

The painting is being exhibited at the Chelsea Galleria booth at the Art Miami Art Fair until tomorrow..

Related: The artist's blog

Pope argues the case for "humanism'
At St Peter's Basilica, the Pope said, "The need emerged to elaborate a new world political and economic order, but at the same time and above all, a spiritual and cultural one _ that is, renewed humanism. At the start of the Third Millennium we find ourselves smack in the middle of this phase of human history, that has been for some time dubbed 'globalization'.

Reality is scarier..

Scary warmth..
WASHINGTON POST: "Never has good weather felt so bad. Never have flowers inspired so much fear. Never has the warm caress of a sunbeam seemed so ominous. The weather is sublime, it's glorious, it's the end of the world"

The POST story reminds me of the TWILIGHT ZONE where the earth was thrown off course and headed directly towards the sun causing a massive blistering heat wave. Of course it was all a dream in the episode.. in reality the earth was flying away from the sun, causing an eventual freeze that would kill the planet. Life is funny.

British paper: Israel has plans to perform nuke strike on Iran..
Bombshell reports appears on the front page of the SUNDAY TIMES.. ..

Quotes "several military sources" on report, which explains that Israel is prepared to use low-yield "bunker busters" against on Iran..

Major report rocking the world today.. Surely repercussions will be felt--even before any possible bunker buster is launched...

Some winter heat wave random rakings..
Huge avalanche of snow buries cars in Colorado..

Pennsylvania town in shock after home discovered in deplorably filthy conditions..

At 12:50 pm today, it was 67 degrees at my home.. New York City was at 70..Philadelphia was at 73 degrees..

Winter chill no where to be found in Boston, which is currently at this hour 68 degrees.. the nation's capitol bakes at 71..

I went back through a few photos and found one of my hometown in January of 2003--only a few years ago.
We had a winter the day this photo was taken--a blizzard as a matter of fact..
Just a little stroll through memories.. a little reality check of them..

Bad mess up..
Army urges about 275 soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq to return to active duty..

The Army apologizing in a news release..

Weekend of horror
..Horror movie fans flocking to San Jose for FANGORIA magazine's weekend of horror convention...

Sneak previews of gory new films expected, such as remake of THE HITCHER and THE HILLS HAVE EYES 2..

More from FANGORIA..

Some random warm winter blues rakings..
3rd massive snowstorm in three weeks hits weary Colorado..

Giant Alaska snowman has many upset..

The inventor of instant noodles: Dead at 96..

Democrats interested by Republican demands to lower business taxes--if it means a minimum wage increase too...

Inrease of mild weather means increase of whooping cranes in Texas..

Britney Spears promising she's coming back...

Ethical questions over a "pillow angel"..

Cowher resigns from Steelers..

Morning heat..
I am probably getting on the nerves of everyone who reads this site already (judging from the comments left on here most of the time that is) but I am going to say it again: It is damn warm. Today is January 6!! January 6 in the Northeast. I took my dog out for a walk this morning at 10:30 am. It was already 61 degrees.

Pennsylvania winters and Northeast winters at that are sometimes harsh, sometimes warm, and sometimes mixed. This year? I don't know what to say or write or even think. It's unusual to say the least and almost scary to say the most..

Maybe Al Gore has an opinion on it?

And with earth changes so come human changes. Ontario's biggest ski resort has first ever winter closure... 1,300 people have been laid off by the resort.

70 degrees or higher expected in parts of the Northeast today, including New York City.. The tourists got lucky.

There is a brief bout of cold weather coming this upcoming week. And maybe even *gasp* snow! Whether that cold wave--as all others this year--lasts a day or if it does the wacky and actually lasts the winter, one thing is for sure: This world goes through extreme weather. Sometimes deadly. Sometimes cherry blossoms bloom and make us all happy. In the end it's the earth's call, not ours. And often that's the scariest of all.

The Flightin' Irish..
Major thumpin' for Notre Dame..

The baffling disappearance of Adam Air Flight KI-574 ..
Thousands of soldiers battled rugged terrain to try to locate Indonesian aircraft that seemingly vanished..

Whoa, Mr. Postman..
Civil libertarians alarmed by postal legislation that may have opened the the way for government to open mail without any warrants..

The White House denies a change of policy. Democrats and Republicans are reacting publicly..

The cow with two faces..
Armageddon can't be far away with news like this..

January 4: Cherry blossoms bloom!?
This just can't be good. It's the dead of winter.. or at least should be.. and many parts of the country are downright Springlike...

While most maybe wouldn't care.. heating bills lower, winter jackets still in closets.. there just HAS to be something bad with this: Cherry blossoms bloom in D.C..

..And now just there.. NORTHERN Pennsylvania, too! Wilkes-Barre, PA, gets cherry blossoms, too..

..And Brooklyn..

The change of weather for good? The end of winter?

The warmth is unseasonable.. Can it last forever? Longterm wise maybe. Only a very brief shot of cold air predicted for the Northeast, and that will not be until next week..

Until then. Dress in shorts and pretend it's April. Because that's how it feels.

The times they are a changin..

UFOs. but No Horror-Report..
I think I will defy predictions of the return of the "Horror-Report" this year.. Joe, sorry.. But let's face the facts here.. you have to admit, the Schmuckraker is pretty much the same minus the ads from Horrorfind.com..

Nonetheless.. Intriguing reports of a UFO over O'Hara.. And airline employees said that they saw it..

Vatican slams death images of Saddam..
..calls the hanging a spectacle.. says it violates human rights.. harms efforts to heal Iraq..

HAPPY .. SPRING!?
CHERRY BLOSSOM BLOOM IN BROOKLYN!

A quiet man.. a quiet rest..
I am too young to have lived through the presidency of Gerald Ford.. but judging from the funeral we lost a very decent man..

Some final 2006 random rakings.. and a few from the turn of the year..
Some last looks at the 'best ofs' of 2006..

What's in and out in 2007..

The combination of global warming and El Nino: 2007 to be the hottest year on record?

Northeastern US and European ski resorts suffering from warm winter..

Mass nudity on Japan New Years Eve TV.. Bounce with who? Video of the Japanese flesh fest..

New games for the new year..

Neglected to post a video of Auld Lang Syne for New Years.. Die Roten Rosen performs this one..

Now the clean up..
New Years Eve come and gone. It's been 2007 for hours now. While America wakes up from last night's celebrations, it may face a world not really changed much since 11:59pm 2006.

Shocking violence still shocks: Denver Broncos player Darrent Williams killed in a drive by shooting on Monday.. The war didn't end, either. Instead, the deaths of US troops in Iraq now at 3,000.. Still odd stories out there, like this one, quoting a nurse that said a softer Saddam would feed bread crusts to birds..

And so it continues. And so it goes. And goes, and goes..

But in the mix of all this there is a different and new feeling. A sense that maybe we all as humanity have another shot at making this whole thing right. After dinner today, we will get started.. In the mean time...

The clean up continues......

PHOTO: AP Seth Wenig

Culinary schools getting more students
...but the result may not always be what graduates expect..

The TV-chef craze may have boosted the profile of schools offering culinary arts, but many graduates don't expect the most difficult industry to succeed in: The restaurant business..

Snowstorm of epic proportions..
The year not starting off well in the Plains states... Killer snowstorm for the record books..
MORE: Powerful storm pushing snow depths as high as 10 to 15 feet!

Major interstates covered by snow and closed.. Highways with drifts of 10 feet blowing on top...

It's like the dust bowl of the 1930s, only with snow instead..

A soaking New Years day rain is falling on the East Coast.. The East Coast has yet to receive a measurable snowfall.. The Plains states may not dig out until Spring.

One year of wild weather over.. 2007 starting the same.

PHOTO: AP Photo/Bill Ross

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2007! ! !

...As the year turns...

2006 is now finished. For those who felt it was a trying time, it's over. For those who felt it was a year of heartache and stress. It's finished. For those who felt it was a year of unfinished business and bad choices, fret no more.

The magic of a calender changing is how different you can feel when it finally occurs. How fresh January 1 feels. How new and different it all can be, even though it's just another day, another month.. another year.

The world will celebrate tonight. Millions will be loud, millions will be quiet. Everyone will ring in their new year in the way their way is.

They may or may not sing Auld Lang Syne. Hopefully at least a few will know what the words are when they sing it rather than mumble through until the end...

So, what does it all mean? Maybe not much. Maybe it's just a reason to celebrate. A reason to laugh, and a reason to let go for a few moments. A reason to say goodbye to some good and some bad, and a way to say hello to a lot more good, and probably a lot more bad too..

2007 is just another year. But what makes it different is how we treat it. If we treat it right, 2007 can be the beginning of a wonderful new chapter of life.

Raise a glass. And toast the past. Since now it's the present and tomorrow is the future.

Happy New Year, 2007.

Snowy profits..
Just as a monster storm moves into the Plains, a Colardo woman gets media attention for eBay auction in which she is selling snow from the Colorado blizzard of 2006..

New York City Ready
Tons of confetti and constant entertainment on tap for a warm New York City New Years Eve..

There may be at least a million people ready to become the guest of the city tonight..

The year ahead: What are Americans predicting?
According to a new AP poll, Americans don't feel 2007 is going to be good..

Destruction from natural disaster, the second coming of Christ, a terrorist attack, global warming...All among the predictions that you and I must believe are going to happen...

6 out of 10 people believe that America will suffer a terrorist attack in 2007. About 35% believe that the draft is coming back... 25% believe that Jesus is coming back.

And if Christ does return, he will find a country in depression and anxiety. Maybe he will turn around and leave.

The cover debate..
NEWSWEEK decides on Ford..

Predictable, but now official..
Video of the execution of Saddam Hussein taken via cell phone now racing around the world...thanks to the information superhighway..

All the news unfit to print for Sunday, January 07, 2007

All the news unfit to print for Saturday, January 06, 2007

All the news unfit to print for Thursday, January 04, 2007

All the news unfit to print for Wednesday, January 03, 2007

All the news unfit to print for Tuesday, January 02, 2007

All the news unfit to print for Monday, January 01, 2007

All the news unfit to print for Sunday, December 31, 2006