- Typically, an unnecessary jail would be a positive thing. Not having any convicted criminals to jam into 8x10 cells and feed three square meals to per day on metal cafeteria trays should be a good thing……unless you’re a resident or government official in Thurston County, Wash. After the county went to the expense of building a large, modern prison to house society’s riffraff until they are deemed fit to re-enter society, the new jail is unoccupied and costing the county a significant amount of money. With no prisoners, the expenses for the facility are nearly $300,000 and that has many locals irate. "It can be a little painful to write a check for $275,000 dollars every year just to keep an empty building running so that you do protect your investment," said Karen Valenzuela, chairwoman of the Thurston County Commission. So why is the jail empty? Was it some great oversight or planning error that created a supposed need for a jail that has turned out to be a total waste? The facility was supposed to control overflow of the current jail; an old, cramped building where inmates sometimes have to sleep on the floor. So far, the prison population at the current correctional facility has never surged enough to necessitate use of the new one. "Right now, the population goes up and down depending on the time of the year and coming into this summer we know it's going to be busy," said Tim Braniff, Thurston County undersheriff. Yes, but busy enough to justify spending more than a quarter of a million dollars annually to operate an unused jail? Worse still, construction of the new facility was wrapping up just as the nation’s economy went into the tank, making the financial hole it has become that much more painful. The county doesn’t have enough money to hire staff to work at the facility. Ironically, the county commissioners are looking to spend as much as $161,000 "to hire a nationally known consultant with great expertise in corrections and corrections issues to help us look at a whole range of options we might think about use for this jail space," Valenzuela said. Money for the expense will come from scaled-back construction projects elsewhere in the county. Perhaps all of that cash could be saved if the government would accept the recommendation of the sheriff’s office that the facility to become a stand-alone jail. A final report from the consultant isn't expected until October and a solution is projected to come no sooner than January. Of course, paying some local meth head $500 bucks on the sly to burn down the facility and reap the whirlwind of insurance money and expenses saved from not having to operate the building any longer could also be an option…………
- The void has been created and one overly perky face is planning to step up and fill it. Oprah is gone from the world of daytime talk and someone has to step up to give away free crap and introduce guests with a hilariously exaggerated, theatrical voice. Former CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric believes she is that person and on Monday, while in the midst of a press hour, she announced that she will host a daytime TV show for ABC in September 2012. “It’s gonna be topical, it’s gonna be live, you know, hopefully it will deal with various issues,” Couric said in an interview on Jay Leno’s late-night talk show. "It'll be sort of a little bit of what Oprah did. Obviously, no one can ever fill Oprah's shoes, but some of the things that she did on her show, some of the things we used to do on the Today show." She added that she is "really looking forward” to the show because “creatively, it's such an exciting challenge for me and I think I'm better at interacting and talking to people and synthesizing complicated subjects -- I hope -- and you know doing interviews that require some empathy.” In truth, daytime talk is likely a much better fit for Couric than the evening news, where her inexplicably cheerful personality didn’t jibe well with the more somber, straight-laced hard news approach such a broadcast demands most of the time. She admitted as much to Leno, saying it “was hard to do that in that very structured format." The new, still-untitled show “will be serious at times, obviously informative and fun.” Couric promised it would not be a news show, but rather more human interest and profile pieces of interesting individuals. Those individuals will undoubtedly be faced with some serious perkiness and creepy smiles, as per Couric’s typical M.O. Of course, Oprah isn't completely gone from the world she has long ruled. Her new OWN network boasts so similar programming to the show Couric is set to host and Winfrey herself also has a show on the network, albeit much different than her syndicated daytime talk show she hosted for more than two decades. But at least now, we can all look forward to Katie Couric looking happily into the camera, raising her voice several octaves and shouting, “Pleeeeeeeeassse WELLLLLLCOMMMEE……….TOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM CAH-RUUUUUUUISEE”…………..
- You can have my enriched uranium when you pry it from my cold, dead, dictatorial hands! That’s the message Iranian dictator/despot/all-around bad guy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is sending to the world as multiple world powers attempt to talk him down off the nuclear ledge. No possible offer from any country will convince Iran to stop enriching uranium, Ahmadinejad said at a Tuesday news conference. The news conference came just one day after the United Nations' atomic watchdog said there was new evidence about possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear work. Armed with a fresh dose of rage and defiance, Ahmadinejad accused IAEA chief Yukiya Amano of being a puppet carrying out the United States’ orders and saying Amano’s comments had "no legal value," which makes little sense but was said in a very angry tone. "With America's orders (the IAEA) has written some things in a report that are against the law and against the agency's regulations. These have no legal value and aside from harming the agency's reputation it will have no other effect," Ahmadinejad fumed. He and his sycophants are still selling the same line of delusional bullsh*t as always about their nuclear program being entirely peaceful and for energy purposes only. Operating under that misguided notion, Iran has maintained that all international sanctions aimed at persuading it to halt uranium enrichment are illegal. Amano seemed to disagree Monday when he claimed his agency had received "further information related to possible past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities that seem to point to the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program.” During his anti-world rant, Ahmadinejad also denied suggestions that international sanctions are adversely affecting Iran’s economy and have had no effect on its unwillingness to relinquish its “sovereign right to enrich uranium.” Never mind the fact that a confrontation, belligerent national led by a raging, megalomaniacal despot admits to engaging in a process that can make fuel for power plants or, if processed much further, provide bomb material, just toss that aside. "We will continue our path," Ahmadinejad said, while insisting out the other side of his mouth that Iran would continue to cooperate with the IAEA "as long as they move based on justice.” His mood seemed worse for having been a part of talks with major world powers over the past week in which those powers sought an end to the nuclear impasse. Asked about potential offers swaying Iran’s nuclear plans, Ahmadinejad answered with the one word: "No.” Glad to see the cooperative spirit is alive and well in Iran………..
- Reason to stop smoking No. 7,455,144,101: A new study published in the latest issue of Annals of Internal Medicine found that women who smoke are much more likely than non-smokers to develop clogged arteries in the legs. Better still, female smokers can still lower those odds drastically by quitting. Researchers discovered that female subjects were up to 17 times more likely than non-smokers to develop peripheral artery disease (PAD). An estimated 8 million Americans currently suffer from PAD, which usually results from atherosclerosis, a hardening and narrowing of the arteries, restricting blood flow to the legs. The primary symptom is typically leg pain or cramps during normal activities, like walking. PAD sufferers also tend to have widespread atherosclerosis, including coronary heart disease—where arteries supplying blood to the heart become narrowed and stiff. Links between smoking and heart disease are well-documented, but very few studies have focused on the connection between smoking and PAD. The good news for women who smoke - and there tends to be very little of that sort of thing - is that those who kicked the habit appeared to lower their risk of PAD, although they did not eliminate it. "Our most important finding, in my view, is that smoking cessation substantially reduces this risk," said lead researcher Dr. David Conen, of the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland. "We found a gradual decrease in risk with an increased duration of smoking abstinence, highlighting the importance of smoking cessation.” When compared with lifelong non-smokers, former smokers had three times the risk of developing PAD over than span of a decade. Those numbers are alarming, but not as alarming as those of current smokers. These sorry souls were in much greater danger, with those who smoked fewer than 15 cigarettes a day had a nine-fold higher risk of PAD than lifelong non-smokers, while those who lit up more often had a risk factor 17-times higher than non-smokers. “Clearly, our study adds one more reason to quit smoking as soon as possible," Conen said, stating the blatantly obvious. “The fact that the risk of PAD does not get down to that of women who never smoked also emphasizes the importance that never starting smoking is at least as important." The research used data from a long-running study of U.S. women who were age 45 or older and free of heart disease and other major health problems at the outset. Of the 40,000 women researchers in that study followed for 13 years, 178 were eventually diagnosed with PAD. Heavy smokers (15 or more cigarettes per day) were the most PAD-stricken, with a rate of 1.6 cases for every 1,000 women each year. By contrast, there were 0.1 cases for every 1,000 women each year among lifelong non-smokers. Even after Conen's team accounted for other PAD risk factors, like older age, obesity and diabetes, smoking itself was still strongly linked to the disease. The researchers also gained valuable insights as to why smoking might lead to PAD. By analyzing blood samples from a subgroup of women, Conen’s team found high levels of certain inflammatory proteins accounted for some of the risk linked to smoking. They theorized that this leads to smoking-induced PAD in part due to chronic inflammation in the blood vessels. While all of this data is a lot to process, the bottom line is simple: Smoking is still for losers and if you do it, you need to stop - IMMEDIATELY…………
- Who doesn’t love their Little League baseball with a dash of gunfire and a hint of danger? The parents and league officials in Worcester, Mass., for one. Instead of embracing the addition of some real-life danger and excitement to their children’s Little League games, these worrywarts shut the league down temporarily last week after gunfire in the neighborhood sent players, parents and umpires racing for cover inside the clubhouse. Whether it was someone testing their new firearm, just squeezing off a few rounds into the air because it’s fun, robbing a liquor store or knee-capping a gang rival, league officials weren’t taking any chances. Although no one was hurt, play was suspended. It wasn’t until Monday that Tom Ash Little League officers and parents of players voted to continue playing after police and the district attorney promised a stepped up law enforcement presence in the neighborhood at a meeting Monday night attended by about 200 people. Deputy Police Chief Steven Sargent promised a heightened and extremely visible police presence in the neighborhood to reassure parents and players. The Tom Ash Little League could have merely accepted offers from other youth baseball leagues in the city and surrounding towns to let the league use their fields, but those involved elected to stay where they were and to quote Tom Petty, “won’t back down.” Indeed, the announcement of the vote in favor of resuming play was met with cheers and games are expected to resume this week. Why there was no vote on bulletproof vests for the players and coaches isn't clear, but more police officers patrolling the area should be a nice alternative. Nothing screams “joy of playing the game you love” quite like uniformed officers stationed beyond the outfield fence, at the snack shack and behind the dugouts just to so gun-toting yahoo decides to open fire and send everyone scurrying for cover again…………
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